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Police probe abuse complaint

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Ursus:
Here are some other articles from The Chronicle Herald which have already slipped into the pay-per-view category, just in case someone has an account with them:



* Grandmother: Teen insisting he was abused at facility
The Chronicle-Herald - Metropolitan - 07-22-2010 - 519 words
Michael Macdonald - Wednesday that the troubled boy has recanted allegations he was abused by staff at a treatment facility in Ontario. The woman, who can't be named to protect the youth's...
* Grandmother: Teen sticking with abuse claim
The Chronicle-Herald - 07-22-2010 - 347 words
Michael Macdonald - Wednesday that the troubled boy has recanted allegations he was abused by staff at a treatment facility in Ontario. The woman, who can't be named to protect the youth's...
* Grandmother says she's barred from visiting teen
The Chronicle-Herald - 07-23-2010 - 190 words
a Nova Scotia youth who claims he was physically abused by staff at an Ontario treatment facility says officials have barred her from seeing him. The woman, who can't be...

wdtony:
http://www.thetelegram.com/section/2010 ... -Ontario/1


Grandmother says officials have barred her from seeing troubled teen in Ontario

Published on July 22nd, 2010

 HALIFAX - The grandmother of a Nova Scotia youth who claims he was physically abused by staff at an Ontario treatment facility says officials have barred her from seeing him.

The woman, who can't be named to protect the youth's identity, says the troubled 15-year-old told her that staff at the Bayfield facility in Consecon forced him to the floor, punched him in the ribs and kneeled on his throat.

She says the scuffle Sunday left him with a black eye and cuts on his head.

The grandmother says she asked if she could visit the youth on Friday or Monday, but was told that wasn't possible because an investigation is underway.

Officials with the provincial Community Services Department and the Bayfield facility declined today to comment on the case.

But the director of child welfare for the department has previously said the boy told his social worker that he fabricated the allegations.

The decision to send the boy out of the province was endorsed by Nova Scotia Supreme Court more than a year ago when the province confirmed it had exhausted its treatment and housing options.

The boy suffers from cognitive disorders and has been in the care of the Community Services Department since November 2008, when it was determined he was a threat to himself and the community.

wdtony:
http://www.canadaeast.com/rss/article/1144137

Grandmother defends N.S. teen alleging abuse at Ontario treatment facility

Published Wednesday July 21st, 2010

Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press

HALIFAX - The grandmother of a Nova Scotia youth struggling with behavioural disorders says a provincial official was wrong to suggest Wednesday that the troubled boy has recanted allegations he was abused by staff at a treatment facility in Ontario.

The woman, who can't be named to protect the youth's identity, said the 15-year-old is sticking to his story that two staff members at the Bayfield facility in Consecon threw him to the floor, punched him in the ribs and kneeled on his throat — stopping his breathing for a moment.

She said she spoke with him by phone Tuesday and he repeated he has a black eye, cuts on his head and scratches all over his body.

"He said ... 'they beat me,' " the woman said in an interview, noting that the altercation began at 2 a.m. Sunday when the boy asked to go to the washroom.

"And the next thing you know, bam! Down on the floor and they punched him in the ribs and the kneed him. They slammed him down on the floor. ... He said, 'Mum, it really hurt.' "

She said the boy fought back only to protect himself.

Vicki Wood, director of child welfare with Nova Scotia's Community Services Department, said the boy told his social worker he was wrong to fabricate the allegations he made Sunday.

"He told her that he had not been injured, he did not have a black eye and he's not sure why he said that," she said in an interview.

"When you're working with children who have emotional and behavioural disorders, it's not unusual for them to have episodes where they're ... having difficulty. In those difficulties they may leave a program, they may say things that may encourage someone to come and get them."

Wood confirmed that the department reviews every report of abuse.

The grandmother's voice trembled with emotion when she spoke about the Nova Scotia government's attempts to help the family.

"They have destroyed our family here," she said. "You know what it feels like in this house? Death. We know he's alive, but it feels like death."

She said the teen has complained to her about rough treatment at Bayfield on at least 10 other occasions. As a result, he should be removed until a specialized program can be set up in Nova Scotia, she added.

The accusations have not been proven and officials at Bayfield have declined comment. But documents from Nova Scotia's Justice Department confirm their was a struggle on Sunday and the boy was restrained.

The teen has been in the care of Nova Scotia's Community Services Department since November 2008, when it was determined he was a threat to himself and the community. He suffers from various cognitive challenges, but the grandmother and the family's lawyer insist there has never been a conclusive diagnosis.

"I'm not saying that he doesn't have a disability," the grandmother said. "When the child was in school, he couldn't sit down."

But she dismissed published reports that suggest the boy suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and fetal alcohol syndrome, a disorder that leaves individuals with little ability to control their impulses.

"Nobody knows what's wrong with this child," she said.

Wood said she understands that it's difficult for families whose children are being cared for in another province.

"We make every effort to maintain the ties," she said, noting that the province plans to open a facility similar to Bayfield as early as next year.

But that's not good enough for the boy's grandmother.

"If you don't have family contact, it's not going to work," she said, noting that the family can't afford to travel to Ontario very often. "At least if he was in Nova Scotia, we could visit more."

The boy has been involved in two car thefts and charged with various petty crimes, but his record does not include any violent offences, lawyer Patrick Eagan said in an interview.

The decision to send the boy out of the province was endorsed by Nova Scotia Supreme Court more than a year ago when the province confirmed it had exhausted its options.

The province doesn't have a facility similar to Bayfield, a privately run operation that offers long-term, intensive treatment for boys with conduct disorders, psychiatric disorders and attention deficit disorder.

His story attracted national attention last year when the court decided to send him to a facility in Utah, which is about 3,600 kilometres from the Maritime province. The Utah centre later said the boy could not be admitted.

A Supreme Court ruling published in April said the boy's grandparents lack understanding and acceptance of the adolescent's cognitive deficiencies. As well, the ruling said the grandmother has given the teen reasons to feel justified in disrespecting staff at Bayfield.

On Wednesday, the woman scoffed at those findings.

"They twist things around," she said.

The woman and the boy's grandfather have cared for him since he was a toddler. His mother lost custody of him in British Columbia — though the details remain sketchy — and his father has never been around.

wdtony:
http://news.sympatico.cbc.ca/local/ns/n ... d/9be07f04

N.S. boy's claim of abuse at care facility probed

04/08/2010 8:42:44 AM

CBC News

A Nova Scotia woman says she welcomes a police investigation into allegations that her grandson is being abused at an Ontario facility for troubled youth.


The grandmother told CBC News on Wednesday she believes the 15-year-old boy is being mistreated at the Bayfield treatment centre in Consecon, just south of Trenton in eastern Ontario.

Ontario Provincial Police confirm they are investigating.

"I hope they get to this, that this is really happening there with this child, because something is going to happen if they don't get that child out of there," said the grandmother, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the boy.

"If he was here and I was abusing him and putting marks on him I would be locked out. He would be removed from my home."

She said her grandson was cut, bruised and jabbed in the ribs during a struggle with staff who were trying to restrain him. She said he had no choice but to defend himself.

"Three on to you, beating you? I mean, you're going to try to struggle or run. And he stood there and fought back. But he got the worst of it," she said.

She said it happened when he tried to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

The boy is in the permanent care of the Nova Scotia Department of Community Services. He suffers from mental disorders and has been in conflict with the law. Last year, he was sent to the Bayfield facility because Nova Scotia doesn't have the kind of treatment program he needs.

Sgt. Kristine Rae, a police spokeswoman, said Tuesday that investigators are looking into a complaint at Bayfield, but she couldn't give details.

The grandmother said she gave a videotaped interview to Cole Harbour RCMP and provided audiotapes of her grandson discussing the abuse allegations with her.

She said she told RCMP that she believes her grandson's account.

The Department of Community Services is aware of the police investigation but wouldn't say whether its own investigation has concluded.

"We take all allegations of abuse seriously, and we encourage the authorities to investigate them," said a department spokesperson.

wdtony:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/1197843.html

Grandparents cut off from troubled teen

Family contact’s become an obstacle, Ontario treatment facility claims

By EVA HOARE Staff Reporter
Fri, Aug 20 (2010) - 4:53 AM

The grandparents of a troubled Nova Scotia teenager under treatment at a facility in Ontario say they’re outraged that the centre has cut them off completely from him.

"Know what it feels like? It feels like (a) death," the 15-year-old’s grandmother said in an interview Thursday evening from her home in Cole Harbour. "They want to keep him from family."

The grandparents learned of the decision to halt all communication between them and their grandson in a letter sent to their home Thursday.

"Family contact has become an obstacle to providing (the teen) with the treatment he requires in a highly structured residential facility," said the letter from the Nova Scotia Community Services Department.

The letter, signed by two caseworkers from the Dartmouth office of Community Services, says the decision was based on the recommendation of Bayfield Homes in Consecon, Ont., where the boy now lives.

Neither the boy nor his grandparents can be named in order to protect his identity because of his age.

The grandparents have raised the boy for most of his life, but more than a year ago Community Services placed him in care.

The teen has a history of running away from home and from care facilities and for engaging in risky behaviour such as sex with adult men and women, court has previously heard. He also once went joyriding in a stolen car that struck a pole.

He has been diagnosed with cognitive limitations, fetal alcohol syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant behaviour.

Nova Scotia does not have a treatment facility that is equipped to deal with the boy’s condition. The boy’s grandmother says the decision to stop her and her husband from phoning the teen is payback because they launched a criminal complaint with police alleging the boy has been abused at the Ontario centre.

"We feel it’s a vendetta because we went to the media because the child got restrained and hurt there," she said. "They wanted us to keep it a secret."

Early this month, Ontario police confirmed they were investigating allegations that staff at the Bayfield home had abused the boy, The Canadian Press reported. She said Thursday she is worried about how the lack of contact with family will affect her grandson.

"I believe he knows," she said of the no-contact order. "We were expecting a call this evening but we didn’t get that."

In their letter, the caseworkers say they will make an application to change the court order in place regarding access to the teen.

"You try to work with them," the boy’s grandfather said. "They don’t want to work with you. I don’t know . . . I really don’t know."

"They’re going to take us back to court," the grandmother said. "We’re not giving up."

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