Suit alleges girl assaulted while in CFS care

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This article was published 18/02/2022 (1488 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg woman, who alleges she was sexually assaulted as a child after being temporarily placed in a hotel with no supervision, is suing the province and West Region Child and Family Services

The woman was nine years old in 1997 when she was taken into short-term voluntary care and lodged at Place Louis Riel Suite Hotel for two weeks while her mother received psychiatric care, according to a statement of claim filed this month.

The woman shared a room with a boy who was also in care, and they sleept in separate beds, with no adult supervision, the statement of claim alleges.

On her second night at the hotel, the boy sexually assaulted her.

The girl refused to bathe until a CFS worker forced her into a shower, the statement of claim alleges. The worker did not ask why the girl refused to bathe and made no inquiries as to her comfort or safety before returning her home to her mother two weeks later.

The defendants had a duty to “properly assess the risks inherent in the placement of the (girl) at the hotel” and safeguard her from harm, says the statement of claim.

“The conduct of the defendants was reckless and done with the knowledge that it would place the plaintiff, a minor at the time, at a significant risk of harm,” including humiliation, indignity and physical and emotional and mental distress and injury, the statement of claim alleges.

The woman continues to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety as a result of the assault and has had difficulty continuing her education or advancing her employment, says the statement of claim.

The woman said she was unable to file the lawsuit earlier “given the fear, embarrassment and trauma that she suffered.”

The woman “repressed much of the anger and grief resulting from the sexual assault. It was and continues to be very painful for (her) to think or speak about the sexual assault,” says the statement of claim.

“She is only now discovering the necessary connection between her injuries and the wrong done to her by the defendants.”

No statements of defence have been filed. The allegations have not been proven in court.

Seven years ago, the province committed to phasing out the use of hotels as emergency placements for children in care.

In April 2015, the province vowed to stop the practice by June 1 after a girl in care was attacked in a downtown parkade.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca