2004: Child Welfare Reform: Protecting Children or Policing the Poor?
It was in the context of dramatic media coverage of tragic child welfare outcomes and a rapidly shrinking welfare state that Ontario's child welfare reform was introduced in 1997. The reform involves a series of changes to both law and policy that have transformed child welfare in this province within a very short time. The initiatives to support this new and much more focused direction, as we will show, have produced a high level of surveillance and intrusion into the lives of clients and suspected client of the system.
https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=jlsp
https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/jlsp/vol19/iss1/1/
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Motherisk Report:
Social workers claim Motherisk bombshell caught many of them who work in child protection off guard. For years, children were removed from their families and tens of thousands of files kept open based on flawed hair testing for drugs and alcohol at the Motherisk lab at the Hospital for Sick Children.
“The testing was imposed on people who were among the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society, with scant regard for due process of their rights to privacy and bodily integrity,” the report states.
There is a major power imbalance between an impoverished parent (we know that families of low socio-economic status are hugely overrepresented in the child welfare system) and a state agency. To guard against such an imbalance, it is critical that our legal system respect the time-tested procedural safeguards developed to specifically ensure that the disadvantaged party is treated fairly.
Yet according to the Motherisk report, these safeguards were ignored. The report describes a litany of procedural injustices perpetrated on parents: parents were pressured to consent to testing; were not informed of their right to reject testing; they had adverse inferences drawn against them when they rejected testing; they were required to prove the unreliability of testing instead of the other way around; and they were refused the right to cross-examine Motherisk "experts" at summary judgment motions.
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees procedural fairness when the state interferes with fundamental personal rights, such as the right by parents to care for their children. Ironically enough, the issue of taking body samples (such as hair for testing) without proper consent for the purpose of criminal investigations was found to be an infringement of the Charter 20 years ago by the Supreme Court.
It is unconscionable that these protections are available to accused persons, but were never considered applicable to parents at the mercy of child protection services.
OACAS and CASs are shocked and saddened by these findings. Our clients are the most vulnerable and marginalized members of society, often at the lowest points of their lives. Our first priority — and the majority of our work — is to support families so they can stay safely together. It is rare that we separate children from their families. In fact, in 97% of investigations, children remain in their homes with their families. We are very careful in the process of assessing whether a child needs to be removed from their home. Though hair testing is one of many tools that has been used in evaluating a child’s safety, it was absolutely imperative that the testing meet internationally recognized standards.
https://www.oacas.org/2015/12/the-ontario-association-of-childrens-aid-societies-responds-to-the-final-report-of-the-motherisk-hair-analysis-independent-review/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/motherisk-child-protection-1.4559905
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2018: What separation from parents does to children: ‘The effect is catastrophic’
This is what happens inside children when they are forcibly separated from their parents.
Their heart rate goes up. Their body releases a flood of stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. Those stress hormones can start killing off dendrites — the little branches in brain cells that transmit messages. In time, the stress can start killing off neurons and — especially in young children — wreaking dramatic and long-term damage, both psychologically and to the physical structure of the brain.
“The effect is catastrophic,” said Charles Nelson, a pediatrics professor at Harvard Medical School. “There’s so much research on this that if people paid attention at all to the science, they would never do this.”
Separating kids from parents a 'textbook strategy' of domestic abuse, experts say — and causes irreversible, lifelong damage even when there is no other choice.
“Being separated from parents or having inconsistent living conditions for long periods of time can create changes in thoughts and behavior patterns, and an increase in challenging behavior and stress-related physical symptoms,” such as sleep difficulty, nightmares, flashbacks, crying, and yelling says Amy van Schagen - California State University.
The Science Is Unequivocal: Separating Families Is Harmful to Children
In news stories and opinion pieces, psychological scientists are sharing evidence-based insight from decades of research demonstrating the harmful effects of separating parents and children.
In an op-ed in USA Today, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff (University of Delaware), Mary Dozier (University of Delaware), and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek (Temple University) write:
“Years of research are clear: Children need their parents to feel secure in the world, to explore and learn, and to grow strong emotionally.”
In a Washington Post op-ed, James Coan (University of Virginia) says:
“As a clinical psychologist and neuroscientist at the University of Virginia, I study how the brain transforms social connection into better mental and physical health. My research suggests that maintaining close ties to trusted loved ones is a vital buffer against the external stressors we all face. But not being an expert on how this affects children, I recently invited five internationally recognized developmental scientists to chat with me about the matter on a science podcast I host. As we discussed the border policy’s effect on the children ensnared by it, even I was surprised to learn just how damaging it is likely to be.”
Mia Smith-Bynum (University of Maryland) is quoted in The Cut:
“The science leads to the conclusion that the deprivation of caregiving produces a form of extreme suffering in children. Being separated from a parent isn’t just a trauma — it breaks the relationship that helps children cope with other traumas.
Forceful separation is particularly damaging, explains clinical psychologist Mia Smith-Bynum, a professor of family science at the University of Maryland, when parents feel there’s nothing in their power that can be done to get their child back.
For all the dislocation, strangeness and pain of being separated forcibly from parents, many children can and do recover, said Mary Dozier, a professor of child development at the University of Delaware. “Not all of them — some kids never recover,” Dr. Dozier said. “But I’ve been amazed at how well kids can do after institutionalization if they’re able to have responsive and nurturing care afterward.”
The effects of that harm may evolve over time, says Antonio Puente, a professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington who specializes in cultural neuropsychology. What may begin as acute emotional distress could reemerge later in life as PTSD, behavioral issues and other signs of lasting neuropsychological damage, he says.
“A parent is really in many ways an extension of the child’s biology as that child is developing,” Tottenham said. “That adult who’s routinely been there provides this enormous stress-buffering effect on a child’s brain at a time when we haven’t yet developed that for ourselves. They’re really one organism, in a way.” When the reliable buffering and guidance of a parent is suddenly withdrawn, the riot of learning that molds and shapes the brain can be short-circuited, she said.
In a story from the BBC, Jack Shonkoff (Harvard University) discusses evidence related to long-term impacts:
Jack P Shonkoff, director of the Harvard University Center on the Developing Child, says it is incorrect to assume that some of the youngest children removed from their parents’ care will be too young to remember and therefore relatively unharmed. “When that stress system stays activated for a significant period of time, it can have a wear and tear effect biologically.
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2019: Court rules Ontario animal protection law enforcement regime unconstitutional.
"Animal protection laws are the only laws still enforced by private agencies, and the court ruled that private enforcement without transparency and accountability is unacceptable," said lawyer Camille Labchuk, executive director of Animal Justice, in a press release statement.
WHAT ABOUT ONTARIO'S SELF REGULATED FULLY GOVERNMENT FUNDED NON PROFIT MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR PRIVATE CORPORATION?
THE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY...
The sections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in question are sections 7 and 8 (concerning individual autonomy and unreasonable search and seizure, respectively). While the decision states there is no direct charter violation of the distribution of legislative powers and “specific warrantless search and/or seizure powers” in the OSPCA Act, Justice Timothy Minnema wrote in his decision that assigning “police and other investigative powers to the OSPCA” violates s. 7.
https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/news/general/court-rules-ontario-animal-protection-law-enforcement-regime-unconstitutional/275753
READ MORE...
2018: Motherisk: Tainted Tests & Broken Families
http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/episodes/2017-2018/motherisk-tainted-tests-broken-families
Discredited hair-testing program harmed vulnerable families across Ontario, report says
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/motherrisk-commission-1.4552160
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Truth usually goes through three stages – First, it is ridiculed, then it is opposed and finally it is accepted as being self- evident - because it is and always has been.
If it can be destroyed by the truth, it deserves to be destroyed by the truth.
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2016: Report shines light on poverty’s role on kids in CAS system.
The effect of provincial policies on struggling families was especially apparent in the late 1990s, when the Conservative government slashed welfare payments and social service funding while at the same time, it introduced in child protection the notion of maltreatment by “omission,” including not having enough food in the home and this after giving the society what amounted to an unlimited funding scheme. The number of children taken into care spiked as did their funding.
https://youtu.be/CG6PT3Hw568
“The ministry has been pretty clear with us that advocacy is not part of our mandate,” Goodman said speaking for the society. “It’s not like they’re asking for the (poverty) data. They’re not.” Goodman then when on to suggest the silence suited the government more than the silence suited the society's funding goals.
https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2016/08/15/report-shines-light-on-povertys-role-on-kids-in-cas-system.html
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2016: Children’s aid societies should not discriminate against poor children: Editorial.
It goes without saying that no one should lose their kids simply because they’re poor. But that some do is the distressing conclusion of a new study of Ontario children taken into care.
Indeed, the study of removal rates in 2013 found children whose families ran out of money for housing, food or utilities were twice as likely to be placed with foster parents or in group homes as their peers.
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2016/08/15/childrens-aid-societies-should-not-discriminate-against-poor-children-editorial.html
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2013: In leaked memo, Peel CAS staff asked to keep cases open to retain funding.
An internal memo from Peel Children’s Aid Society management asks staff not to close any ongoing cases during March, as part of a strategy to secure government funding due to what the society referred to as $67 million dollar funding shortfall. Later articles report the societies as being $70 million over budget after numerous lawsuits and secret settlements..
According to the memo, when service volume is lower than projected, there is less money for the CAS. (less than 16 000 children in care)
March is the end of the fiscal year for the agency and in the memo staff are instructed to complete as many investigations as possible, transfer as many cases as possible to “ongoing services,” (no fewer than 1,000) and not close any ongoing cases during March.
The memo was signed by seven senior managers, using their first names only. One had her full name listed. She is away for the week and could not be reached for comment.
The memo notes that “our volumes continue to be lower than our projections and this will result in less funding for our organization which directly impacts our current deficit and could impact our funding in future years. Therefore the month of March is very important and we need to make a collective effort to meet our newly discussed targets regardless of whether or not children are being abused or neglected.”
(Declining service volume -and class action and private lawsuits- and mismanaged or misappropriated funds means there's less money for the children's aid societies.)
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/03/14/in_leaked_memo_peel_cas_staff_asked_to_keep_cases_open_to_retain_funding.html
And in order to help the societies meet their funding goals the Ontario government made funding available for a province wide CAS advertising campaign with lots of pictures of smiling and testimonials.
2013 - Ontario officials are in talks with the Peel Children's Aid Society after a ... In leaked memo, Peel CAS staff asked to keep cases open to retain funding.
https://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/2507033-province-in-talks-with-peel-children-s-aid-society-over-strategies-in-leaked-memo/
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2019: Executive director Elaina Groves does say it's important for the public to know that child protection workers investigate differently than police.
Decisions are made on a "balance of probabilities" which often means there's not enough evidence for criminal charges let alone a conviction which is probably why child protection social workers in Ontario refused to comply with the social worker registration act claiming there are no practical benefits for them agreeing to register with a college of social work that also uses a "balance of probabilities" to determine the "facts.."
The College of Social Work takes reports about concerns from the public and applies their own standard for investigating complaints as does the society and the same "balance of probabilities" making a ruling.
Groves says some may think that sounds "subjective" but she says rulings on abuse are based on the "impressions" of the unqualified unregistered social worker, the opinions of questionable medical professionals, as well as other evidence like the fraudulent Motherisk Test.
Balance of Probabilities Definition: Burden of proof in civil trials.
The common distinction is made with the burden of truth in a criminal trial, which is beyond a reasonable doubt. In a civil trial, one party's case need only be more probable than the other.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/cas-daycare-operator-dowling-sudbury-child-abuse-1.4826325
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/home-daycare-lawsuit-cas-police-investigation-1.4537023
OACAS: The duty to report.
“Reasonable grounds” refers to the information that an average person, using normal and honest judgment, would need in order to decide to report. This standard has been recognized by courts in Ontario as establishing a lower threshold for reasonable grounds.
Can there really be two thresholds for reasonable grounds and still be reasonable?
http://www.oacas.org/childrens-aid-child-protection/duty-to-report/
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2010: Psychologist got degree from U.S. 'diploma mill'
A psychologist with the Durham Children’s Aid Society has pleaded guilty to professional misconduct for misrepresenting himself and for making multiple unqualified diagnoses of mental illness.
Gregory Carter, 63, appeared before the College of Psychologists of Ontario’s disciplinary committee on Tuesday. He and the college agreed on the terms of the penalty, which includes a three-month suspension, a recorded reprimand and one year of supervised practice under an approved practitioner.
In his practice with the Children’s Aid Society, Mr. Carter’s expertise was used to determine child custody cases.
https://nationalpost.com/posted-toronto/psychologist-got-degree-from-u-s-diploma-mill
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2016: Nov 24, 2016 - Although the Ontario Risk Assessment was a “state of the art” clinical tool at the...
The purpose of the Child Protection Standards in Ontario (dated February 2007) is to promote consistently high quality service delivery to children, youth and their families receiving child protection services from Children’s Aid Societies across the province. The new standards are the mandatory framework within which these services will be delivered. They establish a minimum level of performance for child protection workers, supervisors and Children’s Aid Societies, and create a norm that reflects a desired level of achievement. The standards will provide the baseline for demonstrating the level of performance within the ministry’s overall accountability framework for child welfare.
http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/professionals/childwelfare/protection-standards-2007/childprotectionstandards.aspx
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2019: Expert who gave more than 100 assessments in Ontario child protection cases lied about credentials for years, judge finds.
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/07/31/expert-who-gave-more-than-100-assessments-in-ontario-child-protection-cases-lied-about-credentials-for-years-judge-finds.html
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2019: Province orders children’s aid societies to review credentials of experts used in child welfare cases
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/08/23/province-orders-childrens-aid-societies-to-review-credentials-of-experts-used-in-child-welfare-cases.html
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2017: Motherisk hair test evidence tossed out of Colorado court 2 decades before questions raised in Canada
A U.S. court laid out extensive problems with how hair-strand tests were being done at the Motherisk Drug Testing Lab at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto more than two decades before similar issues were uncovered in Canada.
But the lab's work continued to be used in Canadian courts and relied upon in thousands of child protection cases, including ones in which children were permanently removed from their parents.
From 1991 until 2015, Motherisk was performing what have now been determined to be unreliable and inadequate drug and alcohol tests on thousands of members of vulnerable families across Canada, with the results in some cases leading to child welfare decisions to separate children from their parents AND TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FILES BENING LEFT OPEN OR REOPENED AT WILL.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/motherisk-colorado-court-case-1.4364862
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2017: Motherisk tests 'felt like junk science,' says lawyer in Colorado case
Colorado prosecutor Eva Wilson exposed flaws in Motherisk's testing methodology and analysis during a murder trial in 1993.
https://youtu.be/WIJqYz91ceU
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Confronting Motherisk co-founder Dr. Gideon Koren.
Fifth Estate co-host Mark Kelley confronts Dr. Gideon Koren, the founder and former director of Motherisk, at a medical conference in Windsor, England this month.
https://youtu.be/3POTUUN2tXU
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5 REASONS WHY THE MOTHERISK SCANDAL SHOULDN’T HAPPEN AGAIN.
The results of Motherisk’s hair tests were often used in custody and child protection cases in part to decide whether a parent was fit to care for a child.
So what exactly is the controversy?
As it turns out, for more than two decades Motherisk performed flawed drug and alcohol testing on thousands of vulnerable families across Canada, skewing decisions in over 35,000 child protection cases.
Families were torn apart. As Susan Lang, the independent reviewer who investigated the scandal, said: “losing your child is the capital punishment of child protection law.”
What went wrong? Lang’s report exposed a litany of flaws in how Motherisk conducted its tests. The picture that emerges, very clearly, is a case of flawed process, not flawed science.
1. The tests were preliminary
The tests performed by Motherisk relied on the unconfirmed results of its enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA) tests.
ELISA is often used as a screening tool before more in-depth tests are undertaken. It can be used in toxicology as a rapid presumptive screen for certain classes of drugs. It’s useful if you need to screen a large number of samples when the presumption that only a small percentage will test positive. But it’s not definitive and the results can be erroneously interpreted.
The Motherisk Lab did not follow-up its presumed positive ELISA results with follow-on in-depth tests. Therefore, the results simply could not be relied upon to provide the absolute certainty needed.
As Craig Chatterton, a forensic toxicologist and a proponent of hair sample testing, correctly explains in the CBC report on Motherisk, a preliminary test like ELISA can be spot on - but, tragically for the families implicated, it can be 100% incorrect, too.
Susan Lang’s report went on to say "No forensic toxicology laboratory in the world uses ELISA testing the way MTDL [Motherisk] did."
2. Motherisk had no written standard operating procedures
Having standard, professional operating procedures in place is one of the central pillars of any testing environment, not just hair sample testing.
In this regard, Motherisk failed egregiously. The Lang report found no evidence of any written standard operating procedures at Motherisk. This raises serious doubts about the reliability and, crucially, the standardisation of its testing procedures.
Both forensic and clinical laboratories should have standard operating procedures in place for each of the tests they perform. Motherisk had no clear, documented procedures which means the processes could have varied substantially in each individual case, calling into question, rightly, the integrity of the lab’s results.
3. No transparency
Motherisk’s next misstep was the lack of formal process and documentation meant that it was almost impossible for any third party to robustly assess its results.
When the entire process isn’t adequately captured, it becomes easy for the lab to skirt over anomalies and simplify conclusions.
At Cansford Labs, for instance, we share the evidence in full. This is an absolutely vital component when the test will be involved in a highly sensitive matter like child custody.
The fact that Motherisk offered no insight into how its results were arrived at beggars belief.
4. Inadequate training and oversight
The inadequacy and transparency issues within Motherisk seeped all the way into the employees at the lab.
From reading the Lang report, Motherisk scientists were operating without any forensic training or oversight. The ELISA tests were inadequate, but even if they weren’t, the individuals interpreting the results weren’t properly trained.
Nobody at Motherisk, including, rather incredibly, Dr. Koren himself, had the proper training.
The lack of training manifested in all manner of amateurish mistakes. Staff routinely failed to wash hair samples before analysis, for example. One mother tested positive for alcohol because her alcohol-laced hairspray had not been washed off the sample. With the right training and process, these issues could easily have been avoided.
5. A compromised chain of custody
In the CBC report into Motherisk, one mother recalls how her second test was conducted after she disputed the first test’s results: “With my second test, the hair was done in the social worker’s office with the scissors out of her desk, tape off her desk and cardboard from the trash.”
Her sample tested positive for crystal meth, but laughably when she next saw her “hair sample”, the hair that allegedly belonged to her was longer and a different colour.
It should go without saying, but any robust testing process requires professionalism throughout. It’s not just about testing the sample, but also about how the sample is collected and treated.
The chain of custody is of paramount importance. Trusted professionals need to be present at every stage of the process, guided by the lab that will do the testing, and the procedures need to be the same for every single case.
Motherisk was allegedly an aberration
When things go as wrong as they did at Motherisk and with the workers using it to bash families apart, it’s important not to stick our heads in the sand. Especially when it involves vulnerable individuals.
But Motherisk was an aberration. A tragic and disastrous aberration that specifically targeted the poor.
The science of hair sample testing remains a powerful tool when the analysis is done correctly, appropriately, with quality control and assurances and interpreted by qualified experts.
Indeed, it’s only right that for vulnerable individuals, that nothing but the best will do. A fact that Motherisk seemingly forgot.
https://blog.cansfordlabs.co.uk/5-reasons-why-the-motherisk-scandal-shouldnt-happen-again
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2013: Pediatrician charged in sexual assaults says he was monitoring patients' puberty.
https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/2013/04/09/pediatrician-charged-in-sexual-assaults-says-he-was-monitoring-patients-puberty.html
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2017: Disgraced Hamilton pediatrician has 2nd sex assault conviction tossed on appeal.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/marshall-acquittal-1.4375431
https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/2016/04/15/pediatrician-daniel-marshall-fined-5-000-for-sexually-abusing-teen-patient.html
https://www.guelphmercury.com/news-story/6526248-dr-daniel-marshall-case-it-is-just-not-safe-to-allow-this-man-to-practice-/
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2018: Sarnia pediatrician charged with indecent assault on 15-year-old.
https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/sarnia-pediatrician-charged-with-indecent-assault-on-15-year-old/
https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/indecent-assault-charges-against-sarnia-pediatrician-set-aside/
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2019: Sudbury doctor charged with child porn released on bail.
https://www.sudbury.com/police/sudbury-doctor-charged-with-child-porn-released-on-bail-1461584
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2013: Toronto pediatrician charged with assaulting patient.
https://www.cp24.com/news/toronto-pediatrician-charged-with-assaulting-patient-1.1343042
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2017: Court of Appeal orders new sex assault trial for Toronto pediatrician.
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/12/18/court-of-appeal-orders-new-sex-assault-trial-for-toronto-pediatrician.html
See related...
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/pediatrician-facing-sex-charges/article1047117/
https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/local/halifax-pediatrician-jailed-for-child-porn-after-judge-struggles-with-sentence-341424/
https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/pediatrician-indicted-on-65-charges-after-rape-accusation-1.4430008
https://globalnews.ca/news/5510078/st-albert-pediatrician-sexual-assault-practise-chaperone/
https://globalnews.ca/news/5765009/edmonton-pediatrician-ghassan-al-naami-charged-child-porn/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/pediatrician-sex-charges-seeing-patients-1.5081897
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/pediatrician-charged-sexual-assault-child-resigns-st-albert-1.5083429
https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/saskatoon-pediatrician-facing-child-luring-charges/
https://thestarphoenix.com/news/crime/saskatoon-pediatrician-faces-another-charge-of-soliciting-a-minor-for-sex/
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2016: Ontario to improve levels of care for youth in group homes, CAS custody.
TORONTO – Ontario is promising to improve standards of care for nearly 16,000 young people in foster and group homes, youth justice facilities and mental health residential treatment following a scathing report from an expert panel.
The report focuses on a scattered system with no common standards of care for the children or set qualifications for staff who look after them in institutions that “need significant security controls” because of gangs and peer-to-peer violence.
“There is an urgent need to address the existing and longstanding challenges in the current model of residential service delivery,” concludes the government-appointed panel. “Change has been very slow. It is time to shift gears.”
The experts say there are significant variations in the use of secure isolation or solitary confinement at youth justice facilities, and warns the government will have to make a sustained effort to mitigate its impact and develop alternatives.
https://globalnews.ca/news/2728296/ontario-to-improve-levels-of-care-for-youth-in-group-homes-cas-custody/
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2017: Unannounced visits mean no time to prepare.
Hockley applauds plans to put an end to the practice of letting group homes know that an inspection is coming.
"The reality is, by holding announced visits, you're allowing the staff time to prepare an ideal environment that meets standards," she said.
"This allots time for staff to take the locks off the refrigerator, to put fruit in the fruit bowl, to take out youth belongings that have been locked up, such as shoes. Keep in mind these are all real examples given from members of the youth panel.
"By holding unannounced visits, you're not giving them that opportunity to prepare. And instead, you are getting to witness first hand the true state of the residences in which children and youth reside."
Hockley said she was once in a foster home where "unauthorized" adults would be allowed to sleep over, and some people would be allowed to sleep on the couch. She said she alerted the Children's Aid Society to the issue, but had to stay at the home for weeks until she could be placed elsewhere.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/programs/metromorning/group-homes-foster-care-unannounced-visits-reforms-residential-care-1.4218888
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2020: Child abuse a big concern during COVID-19 outbreak.
Agencies that serve abused children are bracing for an increase in abuse cases as they reduce their services because of COVID-19.
With governments calling for people to stay home, and schools and some social support services closing, many who work with abused children are worried.
For some children, home is not a safe or healthy place.
https://www.ottawamatters.com/national-news/child-abuse-a-big-concern-during-covid-19-outbreak-2186077
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2018: Here is just a partial list of serial child sex offenders set free by the Canadian justice system.
Canada has freed serial molesters, child torturers, child rapists, child pornographers and even child murderers, sometimes with horrific consequences
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/here-is-just-a-partial-list-of-dangerous-and-serial-child-sex-offenders-set-free-by-the-canadian-justice-system
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2014: Sex offender case a ‘colossal waste of money’: Tory jail critic.
https://globalnews.ca/news/1322063/sex-offender-case-a-colossal-waste-of-money-tory-jail-critic/
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Unanimous Supreme Court decision ends six-year FOI ordeal.
https://globalnews.ca/news/1288734/unanimous-supreme-court-decision-ends-six-year-foi-ordeal/
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Updated: Here’s the sex offender map Ontario didn’t want you to see
After fighting in court for six years only to get shot down by three unanimous decisions involving a total of 13 judges, Ontario’s corrections ministry gave Global News a database of sex offenders by postal code last week, shortly after a Supreme Court ruling ordered them to do so.
The province claims it doesn’t know, or can’t say, how much that legal fight cost taxpayers.
“It is unbelievable to me,” Cavoukian told Global News. “Why would they then waste taxpayer dollars to appeal it to the Supreme Court of Canada, knowing that the likelihood of success was very limited, given the previous two decisions, and the fact that we’ve been given deference by the lower courts?
Ontario, Alberta and Quebec have licensed the most child marriages in the last 18 years, said professor Alissa Koski, who researches the practice in Canada.
“There was no risk to personal privacy, so privacy was not an issue. There was no public safety issue here.”
I wonder what we'd see if could overlaid the PDRC's child in care deaths by region map and the map of group and foster homes in Ontaro with this map..
https://globalnews.ca/news/1313399/heres-the-sex-offender-map-ontario-didnt-want-you-to-see/
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2020: Disgraced Ottawa child-protection lawyer pleads guilty to molesting six-year-old girl.
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/0410-lawyer/wcm/de3df15e-9aa8-47de-95f8-6a29f928a2cf/
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Shedding light on the troubles facing kids in group homes.
https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2015/07/03/kids-in-toronto-group-homes-can-be-arrested-for-being-kids.html
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Toronto group homes turning outbursts from kids into matters for police.
https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2015/07/03/toronto-group-homes-turning-outbursts-from-kids-into-matters-for-police.html
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Drugs, theft, alcohol and inappropriate relationships alleged at Children’s Aid group home
https://globalnews.ca/news/5334666/drugs-theft-alcohol-abuse-alleged-childrens-aid-group-home/
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Two teens' harrowing stories of Ontario group homes.
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/03/14/two-teens-harrowing-stories-of-ontario-group-homes.html
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Three CAS cases settled.
When it was filed in 2013, the civil suits totalled $14 million ($2.8 million per plaintiff).
Each plaintiff initially claimed $350,000 for pain and suffering, in addition to $1 million each for loss of future earnings and another $1 million for punitive damages. They sought $100,000 in future care costs, plus $100,000 for special damages and $250,000 for aggravated damages.
Two outstanding plaintiffs will be addressed shortly, Bonn said.
“We continue to work on those,” he said. “We intend to mediate those.”
The suit directed at the CAS also targets four former foster parents, two are now serving prison terms for sexual abuse of children placed in their care. A third convicted predator’s case is now before the Ontario Court of Appeal.
“Like most of these issues, they’re difficult all the way through and deal with unpleasant issues, but the fact that we’ve been able to reach some form of agreement means that each side is able to live with it at some level,” Bonn said Tuesday.
Bonn filed the claims on behalf of the five female plaintiffs, now in their late teens and early 20s.
“With litigation done, it would bring an end to this piece of their involvement with the CAS,” Bonn said.
All complainants listed claim the Prince Edward County CAS (PECCAS) is liable for the abuse each of them suffered while in the care of PECCAS.
The County society is now part of the newly-amalgamated Highland Shores Children’s Aid Society, which also spans the societies of Hastings and Northumberland counties.
Mark Kartusch, the society’s executive director, was also tight-lipped about the settlement.
“I can’t disclose any of the details,” he said Tuesday. “However, we do hope this helps these youths move forward.”
Kartusch wouldn’t go as far as viewing the settlements as a form of closure for the plaintiffs.
“How does one ever have closure?” he said. “We believe in these young people and their future and want to support them in that.”
Before the 2013 merger, PECCAS was subjected to an extensive government probe which revealed a bevy of damning findings.
The investigation led by the Ministry of Child and Youth Services in Dec. 2011 – following a rash of child sex abuse charges against County foster parents – showed the agency was rife with significant internal conflicts recklessly placing vulnerable children in homes not properly screened and some cases not screened at all for months.
Kartusch said the agency has found better footing since the findings triggered amalgamation.
“I think we’re moving forward but will not forget the past,” he said.
Some concerns linger.
“I’m concerned that this may cause people to lose confidence in fostering or foster families,” he said, adding few bad apples aren’t representative of the whole bunch.
The 2013 statement of claims alleged “PECCAS is responsible, in fact and in law, for its own negligence and breaches of its statutory and fiduciary duties as well as for the negligence and breaches of duty committed by its servants, agents and employees,” states the claim, a copy of which was obtained by The Intelligencer in April 2013.
One statement of claim states, “PECCAS caused (the plaintiffs) permanent and extensive injuries and losses” ranging from alcohol and substance abuse to inability to trust, impairment of mental health, nightmares of abuse, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts.
“They (plaintiffs) have incurred medical expenses and will continue to require therapy and medical attention,” the 2013 statement of claim adds.
Two of the former foster parents initially targeted in the claim were Walter Joseph Holm, 46, and his wife, Janet Holm, 49.
They pleaded guilty to several charges, including possession of child pornography, sexual assault and invitation to sexual touching and were sentenced in November 2011 to four- and three-year prison terms respectively.
Three of the five plaintiffs, now ages 21, 23, and 19, are linked to the Holms. It’s not known if they were the three of five now concluded.
Justice Geoff Griffin blasted the Holms for turning their home into a “sexual cult” while fostering 25 teenagers over the course of nine years.
The three plaintiffs further implied that PECCAS was “vicariously liable for the actions” of the Holms.
https://www.intelligencer.ca/2014/10/21/three-cas-cases-settled/wcm/3fd07287-3f2a-1755-7386-1c8c2353c943
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2017: Homeless youth linked to foster care system: report.
BY JORDAN PRESS THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA – A first-of-its-kind study in Canada is drawing a link between youth homelessness levels and a foster care system that researchers say could be playing a more active role in keeping young people off the streets.
https://globalnews.ca/news/3658469/homeless-youth-foster-care-report/
Youth homelessness linked to foster care system in new study.
The study, to be released Wednesday, found nearly three out of every five homeless youth were part of the child welfare system at some point in their lives, a rate almost 200 times greater than that of the general population.
Of those with a history in the child welfare system, almost two of every five respondents eventually "aged out" of provincial or territorial care, losing access to the sort of support that could have kept them from becoming homeless, the study found.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/homeless-youth-foster-care-1.4240121
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Crown Ward Class Action (Children who suffered abuse before and while they were Crown wards, including in foster care and foster homes, and while in the care of the Children’s Aid Society (“CAS”)).
https://kmlaw.ca/cases/crown-ward-class-action/
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2011: Bad teachers: Ontario's secret list. By Kevin Donovan Staff Reporter.
Here are some of the people licensed in Ontario to teach your children and report the suspected abuse and neglect of children.
A teacher who disciplined students by warning they would “spend time with a pedophile” and if the behaviour got worse it “would be without vaseline.”
READ MORE:
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2011/09/29/bad_teachers_ontarios_secret_list.html
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Could you spot a pedophile? Here are the warning signs.
SOME child molesters jump out of bushes and molest your child on the way home from school.
But more likely, he is your friendly neighbor or attentive shopkeeper.
He could be a charming relative or the son of a friend who is all too willing to babysit your children.
The pedophile in your midst may be the schoolteacher, the bus driver, the youth worker or the lay preacher at your church.
The Australian Royal Commission into institutionalized child sex crimes, running since April, has entered a new round of hearings and a concurrent inquiry is continuing into child sex offences in the Catholic Church's NSW Hunter Valley diocese.
Child-related workers
While pedophiles can work anywhere, they do find ways to be around children as often as possible.
It may not be their principal profession, such as a teacher or priest, but a voluntary or weekend position as a sports coach, camp counsellor, school bus driver, daycare worker, Boy Scout leader, church or secular youth worker can provide the contact with children they need.
Some well-known pedophiles have placed themselves as teachers or leaders of artistic bodies such as dance schools, where they have surrounded themselves with adoring and aspiring performers.
Andrew Manners was a convicted pedophile who had committed offences against minors in Queensland in 1998. He was on parole and prohibited from working with children when he surfaced in 2002.
Manners turned up as a fill-in teacher at his mother's Scottish dance school, where he was spotted by an observant parole officer.
Former performing arts schoolteacher, Peter Gerard Boys, was also a band leader of the musical troupe the Marching Koalas in the NSW Hunter Valley region when, aged in his 40s, he began having a sexual relationship with four of his students.
He was convicted and sentenced to eight child sex offences against girls aged 10-16 years, and on his release from prison is believed to have subsequently married one of the girls who had come of age during his incarceration.
Watch out for teacher adoration beyond the bounds of a normal crush, accompanied by "secret" phone calls and special individual attention.
The every-man
When looking out for a child sex offender, don't be fooled by a person's appearance, outward respectability or importance in the community.
Pedophiles are almost always men, more often married adult males and they work in a very wide range of occupations, from unskilled work up to corporate executives.
What to look out for is someone who relates better to children than to adults, and has either very few adult friends or whose friends might also be sex offenders.
Signs to watch for: pedophiles usually prefer children in one specific age group, such as infants and toddlers, children between six and ten years old, or "tweens" and young teenagers up to the age of 16.
Pedophiles can be bisexual but more commonly will prefer children or the one gender, males or females.
https://www.news.com.au/national/could-you-spot-a-paedophile-here-are-the-warning-signs/news-story/a0502e8c3edd265972204ce6fb435982
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A Letter to Justice LeSage about the Ontario College of Teachers
C4A Editorial, Whistleblowers in Canada / By Ian Bron
Some of you may be aware that we have been following the case of Ontario teacher Jim Black. Jim spoke out about the Ontario College of Teachers reinstating of teacher with criminal records – records that involved sex with minors. He did this before most people knew it was a problem, and he was punished by the OCT for his effort. Last year, however, public outcry became loud enough that the government forced the OCT to conduct an independent inquiry of its mandate and functions (read a fuller explanation of his role on the OCT website).
We put together a letter for Mr. LeSage and sent it to him directly – avoiding the filter of the OCT. In the past, the OCT has prevented us from commenting on Mr. Black’s case in their magazine, Professionally Speaking.
Besides the letter below, I also encourage you to read the summary of Mr. Black’s case on our Cases and Issues page.
http://acacanada.ca/2012/03/23/a-letter-to-justice-lesage-about-the-ontario-college-of-teachers/
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2011: Soft-porn writing teacher resigns from watchdog.
The former head of the discipline committee of the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) is facing professional misconduct charges for his role in co-authoring a sexually explicit novel for teens.
Jacques Tremblay resigned his position as chair of the OCT’s disciplinary committee, a position that involves overseeing sexual assault cases, in 2011 after his part in writing a soft porn novel titled “The Sexteens and the Fake Goddess” was exposed in a Toronto Star investigation.
The book “is a lurid tale of striptease, breast fondling, bum grabbing, orgasms, drugs and blackmail,” reported the Star’s Kevin Donovan in the exposé.
The cover of the book depicts the backs of a boy and a girl naked from the waist up looking at a silhouette of the CN Tower.
The other authors of the book are identified as Tremblay’s wife, Marie-Ange Gagnon, and Frederic Tremblay.
Following Jacques Tremblay’s resignation the OCT launched an investigation into the situation, although the teachers’ watchdog had earlier maintained that Tremblay’s writing did “not have an impact on his ability to act in the public interest.”
Tremblay himself had argued that his book was “entirely separate” from his work at the College and service to the public, saying the book was meant to “empower teenagers, to encourage them to be strong and resist or avoid peer pressure.”
However, in an article on his website Tremblay says the purpose of his novel is to help teens “find their inner voice” which will affect their “future sex life” because “having higher self-esteem below the belt leads to better sex.”
He also warns teens that having negative attitudes about sex could have a “direct impact on orgasm.”
https://mychristiandaily.com/teen-sex-novel-lands-former-ontario-teachers-disciplinary-head-in-hot-water/
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2009: Why it’s so hard to fire bad teachers.
From 2009: Most principals would rather hide or transfer incompetent teachers than try to oust them.
https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/why-its-so-hard-to-fire-bad-teachers/
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2011: Ontario’s top teacher watchdog has quit.
Jacques Tremblay, who the Star reported was a writer of soft porn replete with questionable administrator-teacher-student conduct, resigned Tuesday. He was the chairperson for five years of the Ontario College of Teachers’ disciplinary panel, which sits in judgment on hundreds of teachers accused of misconduct.
In the novel, main character Leila Montana is introduced as a “young teen” just starting high school. She is also joining a group called the Sexteens’ Select Society.
As she awaits initiation into this mysterious alliance, the book describes her appearance as follows: “Her half-open shirt divulges the roundness of her gorgeous bosom. Leila’s particularly short skirt exposes her barely fleshy buttocks.”
There are several other detailed references throughout the book about the bodies of Leila and other girls.
Taking an oath to the mysterious society, Leila promises to “develop my teenage life at my own rhythm inspired by the aphrodisiac cult, which is based on the power of love and the emancipation of my sexuality.”
On the day after the initiation, “Leila wakes up and feels a new energy swelling within her. . . . Despite her efforts, however, Leila can’t remember what really happened. She is peaceful and undisturbed by this lapse of memory. Meanwhile, Leila feels a very light, but quite pleasant, tingling on her upper right buttock.”
(Nothing at all creepy about this is there and everything about this little scenario is perfectly normal, right?)
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Date rape drugs facts: It’s Not Just Roofies Anymore.
Date rape drugs are drugs used to assist in a sexual assault, which is any type of sexual activity a person does not agree to.
These drugs can affect you very quickly and cause victims to become weak, confused, and even pass out. You may not remember what happened while you were drugged.
The most common date rape drugs -- also called "club drugs" -- are flunitrazepam (Rohypnol), also called roofies; gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), also called liquid ecstasy; and ketamine, also called Special K.
These drugs may come as pills, liquids, or powders.
Alcohol may also be considered a date rape drug because it affects judgment and behavior and can be used to help commit sexual assault.
The club drug "ecstasy" (MDMA) has also been used to commit sexual assault.
Protect yourself by not accepting drinks from others, not sharing drinks, watching your drink, and by avoiding creepy societies and having a non-drinking friend with you to make sure nothing happens.
If you suspect you have been exposed to a date rape drug or have been sexually assaulted, call 911 and get to an emergency room immediately.
Date rape drugs can also cause seizures and even death.
Adverse Effects of Club Drugs
Uncertainties about the sources, chemicals, and possible contaminants used to manufacture many club drugs make it extremely difficult to determine toxicity and associated medical consequences. Nonetheless, we do know that:
Coma and seizures can occur following use of GHB.
Combined use with other drugs such as alcohol can result in nausea and breathing difficulties. GHB and two of its precursors, gamma butyrolactone (GBL) and 1,4 butanediol (BD), have been involved in poisonings, overdoses, date rapes, and deaths.
Rohypnol may be lethal when mixed with alcohol and/or other CNS depressants.
Ketamine, in high doses, can cause impaired motor function, high blood pressure, and potentially fatal respiratory problems.
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/chairman-of-teachers-discipline-committee-resigns-over-blue-teen-novel
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2011/10/05/top_teacher_watchdog_who_wrote_porn_resigns.html
https://www.thespec.com/news-story/2221198-soft-porn-writing-teacher-resigns-from-watchdog/
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2012: Why bad teachers don’t get fired in Ontario.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/why-bad-teachers-dont-get-fired-in-ontario/article4249405/
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2015: Ontario College of Teachers Cases of Teacher Sexual Misconduct.
Teacher sexual misconduct in Ontario was examined by using cases reviewed by the Ontario College of Teachers between 2000 and 2013. Despite the impetus by key stakeholders to develop appropriate policies to circumvent teacher-student sexual relationships, this phenomenon is still not well understood. The current study found that around 92 percent of perpetrators are men. The results indicate that male perpetrators who abuse elementary school-aged males are more likely to have multiple victims and longer offending careers. This study found less intrusive sexual behaviour, fewer multiple victim perpetrators, and shorter offending careers in more recent cases. This suggests that the government-commissioned report published in 2000 may have raised awareness and shaped this issue in a positive way. Practitioners, policy-makers, and the public are provided with a comprehensive picture of the perpetrators, victims, and the nature of abuse to engage in meaningful discourse and implement program and policy.
https://www.cais.ca/uploaded/Research/Current_Resources/Sexual-Misconduct/Ontario-College-of-Teachers-Cases-of-Teacher-Sexual-Misconduct.pdf
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Project Spade arrests by the numbers
In Canada:
40 teachers (no surprises here)
9 doctors and nurses (no surprises here)
32 volunteers (volunteers for who?)
6 law enforcement personnel (no surprises here)
9 faith leaders (priests and pastors)
3 foster parents (big surprise it wasn't more)
Ontario: 50
Rest of Canada: 58
United States: 76
International: 164
https://www.macleans.ca/general/huge-child-porn-ring-busted-toronto-police-say-348-arrested-in-project-spade/
https://www.toronto.com/news-story/4219011-toronto-police-s-project-spade-results-in-international-child-porn-arrests/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/almost-350-suspects-nabbed-in-huge-child-porn-bust/
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Ontario portrayed as pedophile paradise in U.S. ruse to capture predators
A website set up by Homeland Security promoted the bogus firm Precious Treasure Holiday Co., which promised to arrange illegal encounters in Ontario for pedophiles. October 10, 2011.
U.S. authorities have defended their online portrayal of Ontario as a haven for child-sex tourism, saying the ploy helped them catch four predators.
A controversial website set up by the Department of Homeland Security promoted the bogus firm Precious Treasure Holiday Co., which promised to arrange illegal encounters in Ontario for pedophiles.
Four people — two Germans and two Americans — fell for the sophisticated ruse and signed up for a trip.
A pamphlet that came with the website offered one night hotel accommodations in Canada and travel under the guise of “boyfriend and girlfriend going to gamble at casino.”
The pamphlet said transportation to Cleveland, meals and “condoms, lube, etc. . . ” were not included in the travel package.
But it was the use of Canada as a safe haven for sex tourism that raised questions about how the country was portrayed in the sting.
“Canada made for a more plausible scenario,” Brian Moskowitz, the special agent in charge of the investigation, told Postmedia News shortly after the indictments were announced.
“It was never our intent to take anyone to Canada and no children were involved. It was merely part of a scenario that we built.”
He said that Canada wasn’t used in the scenario over any perceived weaknesses or legal vulnerability.
Canadian authorities, such as those in Windsor, across the river from the Detroit offices of Homeland Security where Moskowitz is based, are alerted whenever such a sting is underway to prevent them from wasting resources on chasing the American operation, he said.
Homeland Security first set up the website in 2009. It remained online in several reincarnations until it was finally outed in March as a government sting by The Smoking Gun website.
“Sex tourism is a scourge and must be combated with every available resource,” Moskowitz said in a release when the convictions were announced in early September.
“These cases show international borders are no longer a hindrance for predators.”
The two German men convicted in the sting paid up to $1,600 to have sex with girls and boys between the ages of 10 and 13. One, a 49-year-old doctor from Stuttgart, was allegedly found with lingerie, sex toys, bondage ropes, straps, a mask, lubricant, 17 condoms as well as four stuffed unicorns and a paint-by-number set, Homeland Security said.
Two Ohio men also pleaded guilty to sex trafficking offences and possession of child pornography as a result of the sting. In one case, a 38-year-old man tried to organize a sexual encounter with an eight-year-old girl. In the other case, a 25-year-old man wasn’t legally allowed to enter Canada because he was on parole for a molestation conviction, Homeland Security said.
https://nationalpost.com/news/ontario-portrayed-as-pedophile-paradise-in-u-s-ruse-to-capture-predators
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