How Could You? Hall of Shame-Canada foster care UPDATED
This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.
From Wellington, Canada, a male 72-year-old foster parent is on trial on “three counts each of sexual assault, sexual exploitation and invitation to sexual touching.”
Three foster daughters are the alleged victims. “The first of three girls, now in their late teens, told a Picton jury Tuesday that she was sexually assaulted on numerous occasions just months after being placed in the Wellington home of the accused in July 2003.
The complainant, now 18-years-old, cannot be named because of an court imposed publication ban restricting the release of any information that would identify her.”
“The 18-year-old told the jury that during her year-long stay at the Wellington home, that ended in June 2004, she had numerous inappropriate sexual encounters, including oral sex and fondling, with the accused who served as her foster parent.
“He kept begging me,” she told the jury panel of eight women and four men, about the oral sex which happened at least two times at the house. Her sister and two other girls where also in care at the home at the time.
She complained to the Prince Edward County Children’s Aid Society CAS and Prince Edward County OPP in 2005, but no charges were laid until she was encouraged by a sex counsellor to file a second report in 2009.
“He told me not to tell anybody about us,” she said, about the accused. “I was scared.”
The other two complainants are expected to testify today and Thursday. Lawyers say the ban could be lifted to allow the media to publish the name of the accused.”
Foster child says she was abused numerous times
[Intelligencer 5/15/12 by Jason Miller]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Masking the name of alleged perpetrators also prevents other possible victims from coming forward.
Update: “A county foster parent accused of sexually assaulting three girls placed in his care claims he has been unable to have sex since 1996.
In addition to vehemently denying the allegations of sexual abuse, the 71-year-old elaborated that prostate cancer surgery in 1995 left him unable to partake in intercourse.
His sexual dysfunction has also prevented him from engaging in certain sexual acts due to his inability to produce an erection, a Picton jury was told by the accused who took the stand in his defence Wednesday.
The debilitating side effects resulting from the prostatectomy deemed him unable to consummate the marriage with his second wife who he wed in 1997.
There were other maiming effects from the surgery, such a major reduction in the size of his genitalia and an enlarged scrotum.
“We haven’t had sex since that time,” he said.
Defence lawyer Mike Pretsell surgically extracted his client’s medical history in an effort to place doubt on the testimony of three complainants, now in their late teens, who have testified to having sexual intercourse with the accused over several years during their stay at Wellington, then Bloomfield, foster homes he operated with his wife.
“That never happened,” said the accused, who first became a foster parent in 2003. “I don’t know how that would be physically possible.”
A court-imposed publication ban blocks the media from releasing any information that could identify the complainants.
The embargo also extends to the name of the accused, who stands charged with three counts each of sexual assault, sexual exploitation and invitation to sexual touching.
The court already heard that the other two complainants, who left the home just months apart in 2004, both filed sexual abuse complaints to police and the Prince Edward County Children’s Aid Society in 2005, but no charges resulted from the allegations. No charges were laid until the third girl claimed she too had sex numerous times with the accused
The accused strongly denied fondling or in anyway molesting the girls who were nine and 10-years-old at the time and were among the first group of children entrusted into his care by the CAS.
“I really cared for those girls,” he said. “I would never do that.”
Some of the jurors watched attentively while others scribbled notes as the accused explained that he was briefly barred from foster care in 2005 while police investigated reports of sexual abuse from the first two complainants.
“The CAS had made us aware that things like this could happen,” he said. “We went for about a month with no foster children.”
He was later reinstated as a foster parent and continued caring for more than a dozen children up until he was charged in October 2010. Pretsell will continue his examination of the accused today.”
Accused foster parent says he wasn’t capable of having sex
[The Intelligencer 5/23/12 by Jason Miller]
“Mounting debt motivated a county foster parent to continue caring for young girls even after two claimed he sexually assaulted them in 2005.
While insisting that financial gain never fuelled his interest in foster parenting, the accused admitted that he became increasingly dependent on the monthly cheques from the child welfare office, after overspending sunk the family into debt.
“We thought we would have them for the rest of our lives,” he said. “I wanted to adopt them. I wanted to walk them down the isle.”
A Picton jury heard how the foster father splurged on multiple family vacations, including seven cruises and purchased extravagant gifts such as three individual rings, that cost $800 each, for three girls ages nine and 10, placed in his care by the Prince Edward County Children’s Aid Society.
“Through the whole time we were always in a hole,” he said. “We always spent more than the allowances. We had to keep taking kids to generate money to pay back what we spent.”
The CAS allotted allowances including up $65 per month for clothes for each child and a $40 weekly stipend (per child) soon became insufficient to cover soaring expenses for the couple who fostered more than a dozen children up until 2010.
The grey-haired 71-year-old said, in retrospect, he probably erred in his decision to continue offering foster care up until he was charged in 2010 — even after two girls who stayed at his Wellington home in 2004 accused him of molestation and prodding them to partake in sexual inappropriate activity.
“I needed the money,” he told Crown attorney Jodi Whyte, who commenced her cross-examination Thursday afternoon.”
The court already heard that the other two complainants, who left the home just months apart in 2004, both filed sexual abuse complaints to police and the CAS in 2005, but no charges resulted from the allegations. No charges were laid until the third girl claimed she too had sex numerous times with the accused.
The jury has already heard from the three complainants, who exposed numerous instances of alleged sexual abuse, including disturbing accusations from one complainant that she engaged in more than 100 sexual acts with her former foster father.
“I kept getting warned by the CAS about that (providing foster care),” said the accused, who became a foster parent with his wife in 2003.
The accused has denied all allegations, claiming he was unable to have sex due to a1995 prostate cancer surgery.
The jury also watched an excerpt from a video statement captured at the Prince Edward County OPP detachment in October 2010, where the accused refused to capitulate to the suggestions of OPP Sgt. Jim Smith, a police officer renowned for extracting a confession from the disgraced Russell Williams.
The officer even resorted to trickery by concocting a story about a video recorder being used by one of the girls to capture the alleged sexual acts. But the accused denied those claims, calling them a lie.
“I have nothing to regret or feel bad about,” he said. “There’s nothing to show.”
Whyte will continue her cross-examination today. The court is also expected to hear from CAS officials including, Bill Sweet, the head of the agency.”
Foster parent: We needed the money
[The Intelligencer 5/23/12 by Jason Miller]
Update 2: Prosecution ad Defense rest. Case could be in hands of jury on Monday.
Foster parent’s fate could be in jury’s hands by Monday
[The Intelligencer 5/31/12 by Jason Miller]
Update 3: “A Picton jury deliberated Tuesday without reaching a verdict in the case of a County foster father facing scathing sex crime allegations.
The jurors, who have been sequestered inside the historic Picton courthouse since Monday evening, will continue their deliberation Wednesday morning.
Tasked with sifting through three weeks of evidence, including the testimony of three teenage complainants, the jury required additional time to arrive at its decision after deliberating until 8:30 p.m., Tuesday night.
The eight-female and four-male panel will decide the fate of the 71-year-old who is accused of sexually assaulting three girls placed in his care by the Prince Edward County Children’s Aid Society over a six-year time frame, starting in 2004.”
Picton jurors continue deliberating Wednesday
[The Intelligencer 6/5/12 by Jason Miller]
Update 4: “The jury this morning acquitted the accused of three charges against him by one of the complainants, but found him guilty on six more charges by the other two girls.
He’ll reappear at Picton Superior Court on July 6 for sentencing.”
Foster father convicted of sex crimes
[Quinte News 6/6/12]
Update 5: “A former County foster parent has been granted an appeal for several sexual assault convictions for which he was sentenced to nine years Friday.
In parcel with the appeal process, the 71-year-old was granted bail by a court of appeal judge Friday afternoon, just hours after being whisked off to a Quinte area jail to start serving his prison term.
Justice Jennifer Blishen condemned the sexual predator to the nine-year term for sexually abusing two girls entrusted in his care by the Prince Edward County Children’s Aid Society.
[What idiot judge granted this man bail after conviction?]
He has vehemently maintained his innocence since being found guilty by a Picton jury of preying on the girls who were nine and 10-years-old when the acts occurred at his Wellington and then Bloomfield foster homes.
Details of the bail are cloudy but sources close to the case say the offender could be released by Saturday. He will be barred from residing with his wife in Prince Edward County.
Appeal proceedings were happening almost simultaneously to the sentencing in Picton. His wife and a Toronto lawyer acted on his behalf during the hearing at the Ontario Court of Appeal Friday afternoon.
The man, who can’t be named because of a court-ordered publication ban guarding the identity of the victims, was placed in handcuffs and whisked away to the Quinte Detention Centre, from where he will be released into the custody of his son, acting as a surety.
His release on bail sets the stage for what could materialize into a lengthy appeal process. Defence counsel will now review transcripts detailing the entire case before drafting appeal documents. It typically takes six to nine months before a one day hearing date is set in Toronto, sources say.
Outside the Picton court Friday, Jodi Whyte, the Crown attorney, said a new trial could be one potential outcome of the appeal. Whyte was notified about 10 days ago that the bail request was pending.
“I’m confident we did everything we could in this case to guard against that (new trial),” she said. “If there is going to be an appeal, I’m hoping that it’s expedited,”
Justice Blishen said the abuser expressed no remorse and was resolute in maintaining his innocence. He blamed the victims for fabricating the stories and claimed the girls colluded out of spite and vindictiveness.
Blishen chided the man for his “disregard of the magnitude and severity of the offences.” A condemning pre-sentence report drafted before the hearing labelled the man a “highly manipulative” offender who is a less-than-ideal candidate for rehabilitation.
The girls, who were subjected to various sexual abuse ranging from oral to sexual intercourse over a six year period, ending in 2010, “suffered greatly,” at the hands of a man they trusted, Blishen said.
“They were both young, vulnerable little girls,” that were placed in the “hands of a sexual predator,” Blishen said.
The two victims, now in their late teens, testified to being sexually assaulted by the accused over several years during their stays at Wellington, then Bloomfield, foster homes he operated with his wife. The court heard complaints were filed to police and CAS officials in Feb. 2005 by one of the complainants, but no charges resulted from the allegations. No charges were laid until the fall of 2010, about four months after the July exit from the home by the third girl who complained that she too had sex numerous times with the accused. He was found guilty of two counts each of sexual assault, sexual exploitation and invitation to sexual touching. While finding him guilty of the charges stemming from those two complainants, the jury declined to convict on any of the allegations brought by a third girl, who also testified at the trial.
Foster parent sentenced but could be freed
[The Intelligencer8/17/12 by Jason Miller]
Former foster parent sentenced for sexual assaults
[The Canadian Press 8/18/12]
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I feel so bad for these firls, I hope they find some comfort in this sick person getting what he deserves!!!!