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Bereaved Boy Gets Sex Therapy

April 27, 2010 permalink

After a girl committed suicide her distraught mother asked CAS for help in caring for her teenaged son. Windsor-Essex CAS placed him with a foster mother whose therapy consisted of marijuana, ecstasy and sex, until the foster dad caught them at it.

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Windsor CAS sued after mom charged with having sex with foster son

Birth mother wants $450,000 in damages for teen son

Ontario Court of Justice
WINDSOR, Ont. — A local mother who says she turned her teenage son over to the Children's Aid Society to get him needed help is suing after his foster mother was charged with having a sexual relationship with him.
Photograph by: File photo, The Windsor Star

WINDSOR, Ont. — A local mother who says she turned her teenage son over to the Children's Aid Society to get him needed help is suing after his foster mother was charged with having a sexual relationship with him.

The mother, who can't be named to protect the boy's identity, is suing on her son's behalf. She is suing the Windsor-Essex Children's Aid Society and the foster parents in whose care her son was placed.

In allegations yet to be tested in court, she is seeking $450,000 in damages.

The foster father has filed a cross-claim against his wife, saying he had no idea she was having sex with the 14-year-old boy until catching them in the act in February 2009.

In his statement of defence filed in Superior Court, he says he "took immediate steps" to keep his wife and the boy separated by getting his wife to move out of the house.

He called CAS and gave a statement to police.

After her husband went to police, his 46-year-old wife was charged in the criminal courts. She is charged with sexual assault and sexual interference.

"She is cloaked with the presumption of innocence," said her criminal defence lawyer, Laura Joy. Joy said she couldn't comment further while the case is before the courts. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for this summer.

Civil lawyer Sam Mossman represents the boy's mother. He said he hasn't spoken to the boy, but understands he is confused and "damaged" by his relationship with his foster mother.

"He is far too young to appreciate what has happened to him."

"He probably doesn't understand at his tender age the nature of what's occurred."

According to the Criminal Code, the boy is too young to consent to sex, much less consent to sex with a person in a position of authority.

In her statement of claim, the boy's mother said she turned to the CAS for help after her daughter committed suicide in 2008.

"The impact of his sister's death ... was severe to the point that (his mother) was concerned about his emotional state."

The mother says the CAS, knowing she was grieving and in a "fragile" emotional state, convinced her it would be in her son's best interest to be placed with a foster family.

The arrangement was to be temporary, and she still had contact with her son.

But soon after the October 2008 placement, the mother "became concerned about his behaviour and aspects of his care."

She said she went to CAS workers assigned to her son's case, but they "ignored her concerns."

She said she learned later from police that, while in foster care, her son smoked marijuana with his guardians. She also alleges they introduced him to ecstasy.

The foster father, in his statement of defence, says this is not true.

He does not deny that his wife and the boy were using illegal drugs, but says he never participated or had any knowledge they were doing so.

He says the boy was already using illegal drugs before he was placed with the couple, and the boy brought drugs into the home.

Neither the foster mother, nor the CAS, have filed statements of defence with the court. A CAS spokeswoman declined to comment on the case.

According to the foster father's statement of defence and cross-claim against his wife, he says the boy was the second foster child to be placed in their home. His cross-claim lays all blame at his wife's feet. Regardless, the foster father denies the boy has "sustained serious or lasting permanent injuries."

While there are no divorce proceedings, court documents suggest the foster parents are estranged, with them keeping separate addresses.

This is the second local foster parent in a month to appear in court on sex abuse charges.

On March 31, a 51-year-old foster father was sentenced to six months in jail for repeatedly sexually assaulting a girl placed in his care, in incidents beginning when she was 14.

In an interview at the time of the man's sentencing, Bill Bevan, CAS executive director, called such instances "extremely rare," with the CAS investigating "maybe one case every few years."

Bevan deferred questions Monday to CAS spokeswoman Tina Gatt, who called the timing of the two cases "an awful coincidence.

"It's still very rare that it does happen," Gatt said.

Also rare is the instance of a parent willingly turning their children over to the CAS, Gatt said. Such instances are called "temporary care agreements.

"Most of the kids that come into care, it's not voluntary."

The CAS has 185 foster homes and 650 children in care.

Gatt said becoming a foster parent is an "intensive, some would say intrusive process," that can take up to one year.

"We're in no rush to do it. We want to be thorough."

Source: Windsor Star

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