How Could You? Hall of Shame-Ontario Foster Mother

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 Windsor, Ontario, Canada, a foster mother was “sentenced Monday [June 13, 2011] to 12 months in jail, followed by three years’ probation, for having sex with a 14-year-old boy placed in her care. The sexual relationship went on for two months until her husband caught her and the boy in the act and went to police.

“Pomerance spoke of the “unique vulnerabilities” of foster children in general, and this boy, specifically. His sister had committed suicide and neither he nor his biological mother were coping well with their grief.

In her victim impact statement in court Monday, the boy’s mother said she turned to the Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Society for help. Workers there convinced her to voluntarily sign over custody of her son on a temporary basis.

The boy was placed in a foster home in Kingsville, Ont., in 2008 with a couple who had fostered other children in the past. The couple smoked marijuana and drank alcohol with the boy to help him open up to them.

On Dec. 3, the three were drinking and smoking pot. The husband left the room and the boy attempted to kiss his foster mom. Later that night, as the woman slept in a spare bedroom, the boy made sexual advances toward her and she had intercourse with him.”
“Defence lawyer Laura Joy said the woman married at 16 and had four children of her own by the time she was 20. When the 14-year-old boy was placed in her care, the woman was suffering from depression, in part because her own children had grown and left home.

Joy presented the court with a binder full of letters attesting to the woman’s good character. But one letter, described by Costa as having been written by the woman’s daughter, raised a red flag. The letter appeared to blame the boy, saying he was not a “victim” because he knows “how to get what he wants.”

“The boy’s biological mother took the witness stand to tell the court how the offence has affected her son and herself.

Since his short experience in foster care, the boy has had criminal dealings with the courts. Once an “excellent student in school,” he has since failed every class he’s taken.

The mom said she had concerns about her son’s care while in the foster home. She refinanced her home to fight the Children’s Aid Society in court to undo the custody order she had signed. The foster mother “lied” to the CAS about the boy’s condition to keep him in her care, the woman said.

When the boy went into care, the mom told him to trust her.

“He trusted me as his mother,” she said. “I am tortured every day.”

In addition to jail and probation, the foster mother will be on the national sex offender registry. Police will also take a sample of her blood for their national DNA databank of convicted criminals.

The judge ordered the woman, as a condition of her probation, to abstain from non-medically prescribed drugs and alcohol. Court heard that the woman takes Prozac for depression.”

Ont. mom smoked pot, had sex with 14-year-old foster son
[Vancouver Sun 6/13/11 by  Sarah Sacheli]

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