Badly broken

Mark Kartusch

Another justice critical of former County CAS

The school year was almost over for eightyear- old E. and her older brother J. Summer was just around the corner. It was 2003. Then, without warning, officials from the Children’s Aid Society appeared at their Bloomfield elementary school and whisked them away.

The children were brought to live in the home of Richard Fildey and his wife, Sherri. Within weeks, the eight-year-old was subjected to sexual abuse by her new foster father. It continued for another 14 months.

E. did not speak out about her abuse until she was 16—fearful of what would happen to her and her brother.

Earlier this year, Fildey, 45, was convicted of these crimes against E. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 19.

Fildey is among four foster parents since 2011 to be convicted of sex-based crimes against children in their care—children placed by the former Children’s Aid Society of PrinceEdwardCounty. Two more foster parents are set to go on trial this fall and winter on sexual exploitation and abuse charges. All six lived in Bloomfield when the abuse took place.

FIRST SIGNS OF TROUBLE
Holm in 2012, Justice Geoff Griffin was harshly critical of the local Children’s Aid Society and its ability to protect children in its care. Justice Griffin called for a public inquiry to probe the failings of the agency and to determine the scale of the problem in Prince Edward County.

There has been no public inquiry. But the fallout from Justice Griffin’s criticisms and the subsequent scrutiny of these and other crimes against children in the agency’s care led to a major shake up at the agency in 2012. CEO Bill Sweet departed and the board was disbanded. The agency was later amalgamated into Highland Shores Children’s Aid.

Since then, a foster parent in his seventies was convicted on nine counts of sexual abuse of three young girls in his care—a man described in court as a predator. He is currently out, awaiting appeal of his conviction.

Sherilee Slatter, 34, is charged with sexual assault, conspiring to commit an indictable offence, distributing child pornography and two counts of sexual exploitation. Her trial is expected to get underway this fall.

Also, Ronald Slatter, 65 is charged with sexual assault, sexual interference and sexual exploitation. His trial is expected early in 2015.

“INFREQUENT AND SUPERFICIAL”
In his decision in the conviction of Richard Fildey in June, Justice W. Tausendfreund was equally critical of the Prince Edward CAS.

He describes the CAS supervision of E. and her brother as “infrequent and superficial”.

“E. had an arm’s-length relationship, at best, with these workers.” wrote Justice Tausendfreund in his decision. “She spoke to them only about general matters, but nothing personal. She had, in fact,no real relationship with any of them.”

He describes a child traumatized by removal from her home and having the only contact with the mother she loved reduced to supervised telephone calls.

“I accept in these circumstances that an eight year- old would not feel comfortable enough to make a disclosure or to be candid with any of the workers, particularly since she did not know what might then happen to her as a foster child if she were to have mentioned it,” wrote Justice Tausendfreund.

In court, E. described, in disturbing and troubling detail, a pattern of visits by Fildey to her bedroom, typically in the early morning upon his return from his night shift job in Belleville .

“Each visit, to her, felt like an hour,” reported Justice Tausendfreund.

Mark Kartusch runs the local CAS now as executive director of HighlandShores. He is limited by privacy rules when speaking about specific cases but acknowledges there was a systemic breakdown in the way CAS functioned in Prince Edward County.

“Clearly, there were many issues and many deficiencies that have been revealed in Prince Edward,” said Kartusch. “There were individual performance issues, but it is unfair to hang this on a front-line staff member. They were doing things the way they were taught and the way the systems work.”

He says those systems have been improved since Highland Shores absorbed the County CAS and that training has improved as well.

But he is reluctant to re-examine previous decisions—even decisions that have led to the sexual abuse of 10 or more vulnerable children at the hands of foster parents—foster parents chosen and monitored by the CAS.

“Things that are seemingly simple on the surface tend to be more complicated below the surface,” said Kartusch.

CHILDREN’S RIGHTS
Justice Tausendfreund was particularly critical of the rotating cast of CAS workers supervising E. and her brother. He reports how the eight-year-old E was periodically asked by workers to read and sign a document entitled “Children’s rights” a document he described as legalistic.

“I fail to understand how an organization would believe that an eight-to nine-year-old child would understand any of this,” wrote Justice Tausendfreund. “In my view, such a document, to an eight-year-old or a 10-year-old, would have little meaning.”

Kartusch says CAS procedures have changed since E. and J. were placed in Fildey’s home.

“I accept the judge’s comments,” said Kartusch. “We don’t get kids that young to sign that booklet. We review it, we talk to them about it, and use it to guide the discussion. Things have changed about what was acceptable and not acceptable in ward reviews since then.”

RED FLAG
But how does someone such as Richard Fildey, described as having limited education, having left school before learning to read and write, become eligible to care for vulnerable children in his home?

Kartusch says that that the inability to read and write doesn’t necessarily disqualify someone from becoming a foster parent—but that it would raise a flag.

“If someone is illiterate—does that mean they cannot give good care?” said Kartusch. “In and of itself, no. Then the questions become: How practical is the situation? Can they function as a foster family? Are there other ways to manage that? A spouse who can compensate.

“Is it an outright disqualifier—no. Is it a significant impediment to qualifying as a foster parent? Yes. I am not aware of any currently.

MOVING ON
E and J were moved the following year to a home in which they were subjected to verbal abuse. They were moved again to a third residence. While there E. met a young couple living nearby who were expecting their first child. She became friends with the couple and assisted them in caring for the baby. During the Christmas holidays of 2010, the CAS informed E. she would be moving again.

She refused. The young couple agreed to welcome E. into their home. They became her family. She, at last, felt safe and comfortable enough to begin to tell her story.