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| John Hill |
Finally, something is being done. Sophia Irish Dales and Ashlee Hudie of the law firm Waddell Phillips Professional Corporation have teamed up with Paul Miller of Howie Sacks and Henry LLP to file a 65-page, 238-paragraph statement of claim in the Superior Court of Justice in Toronto on behalf of Johnathan “Johnny” Stavrou claiming damages against the Province of Ontario and several youth treatment centres and group homes where Johnny was allegedly mistreated and abused during his wardship. None of the allegations made in the claim have been proven in court.
According to the court-filed document, Johnny and his twin brother were taken into care when it was determined that the boys’ biological parents were involved with substance abuse and could not care for their offspring. Johnny and his brother became Crown wards in 2002 when they were 6 years old. Johnny was never adopted and “aged out” of the system when he turned 18.
Things did not go well for Johnny during his 12 years as a Crown ward. Paragraph 6 of the Statement of Claim summarizes the abuse: “Johnny has a traumatic history as a Crown ward. The state became his legal guardian and assumed the role and responsibilities as his sole parent. The Crown, the Society and other residential foster care/treatment providers failed to keep Johnny safe from harm, including sexual abuse, physical abuse (including the improper use of mechanical restraints), bullying/discrimination based on sexual orientation and solitary confinement. The defendants each blamed Johnny for the injustices and harms that he experienced in the child welfare system, rather than providing safe homes and care for him or advocating on his behalf when he reported the abuse that he suffered.”
Johnny matured and identified himself as gay. In June 1999, while at one foster home, he was targeted for his sexual orientation by the foster parents and suffered physical and psychological abuse. When Johnny attempted to defend himself from the physical attack by a foster parent, he was blamed for the assault and sent to a youth detention centre where he was kept in solitary confinement, had mechanical restraints applied and psychotropic drugs administered to “pacify and sedate him.” When he was 13, Johnny was once again sent to a youth detention centre for defensive behaviour. He experienced once again the physical and psychological torment (more precisely termed torture) that this facility administered. He was released when it was realized he did not meet the statutory requirement for incarceration.
Johnny’s placement in youth care facilities involved inappropriate sexual discussions by staff and physical restraints such that he could not visit a washroom in private. At one point in his wardship, he attempted suicide.
Fortunately, Johnny has not turned to illegal activity like many of his peers with whom I have spoken. Nonetheless, his childhood abuse has had a lasting effect on him. The statement of claim sums up the difficulties he has experienced upon becoming an adult. “Despite being raised in the instability of Society care, Johnny is highly intelligent. He has a strong drive to work and learn. Despite his many accomplishments, including his paramedic training and attempts to work, he has routinely struggled to get along with coworkers at any job and has filed various human rights complaints and grievances as a way to assert and protect himself at school and in the workplace. This has often led to employment breakdown. Johnny has sought extensive psychotherapy for his mental injuries, including weekly psychology treatment, psychiatric treatment and assessment, and in-patient treatment at various times in his life. He takes anti-depressant and/or psychotropic medication to manage his mood and mental health.”
Johnny is claiming $5 million for past and future damages plus any special damages seen fit at trial. The deterrent effect that payment of such a large amount of damages is an effective way to ensure that government and governmental agencies do much more to protect children in their care. It would be an investment in the future to ensure that the trauma many kids are experiencing in state-run facilities does not erupt into anti-social acts in future. We should all be grateful to lawyers like Dales, Hudie and Miller for taking on such a significant lawsuit.
John L. Hill practised and taught prison law until his retirement. He holds a J.D. from Queen’s and an LL.M. in constitutional law from Osgoode Hall. He is also the author of Pine Box Parole: Terry Fitzsimmons and the Quest to End Solitary Confinement (Durvile & UpRoute Books). Contact him at johnlornehill@hotmail.com.
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