Nova Scotia judge won't allow 'sexual predator' to be reunited with son
A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge has rejected a recommendation by the province's Community Services Department and denied a man's request to be reunited with his son.
In her decision released Friday, Justice Theresa Forgeron said the risks to the teenage boy are too great as she's satisfied the man sexually abused his stepdaughter over a seven-year period.
Even though the man, whose identity is protected by a court order, has never been convicted of a criminal offence for the alleged abuse, the judge ruled that on the balance of probabilities it happened.
"Within that seven-year period, the father manipulatively groomed the child to provide him with unlimited sexual favours," Forgeron wrote.
"Often while plying her with alcohol, and while convincing her that this odious sexual relationship was normal."
Both the son and the stepdaughter suffer from developmental issues. The father denies the sexual abuse happened.
Violence and neglect
The boy, his brother and their stepsister were placed in foster care in 2012 after the department intervened, according to the decision. Officials were concerned about the father's substance abuse, violence, neglect, his untreated mental health issues and the allegations he sexually abused his stepdaughter.
The father has recently been seeking to regain custody of one of his sons and to care for the boy, under supervision. The case was heard in court in Sydney.
Forgeron said the son wants to return to his father's care, that the two "share a strong bond," and that the son felt he'd been stuck in foster care long enough.
According to the decision, the department "emphasizes the substantial favourable changes in the father's circumstances." It said he no longer drinks or uses drugs, no longer has mental health challenges and successfully completed various programs on violence, parental conflict, anger management and parenting strategies.
Father a 'sexual predator'
But Forgeron dismissed a suggestion by Community Services that the boy wasn't at risk because he is male and a blood relative, while the victim was female and unrelated to the man.
"The father was a sexual predator who abused his position of trust," Forgeron wrote. "The stepdaughter is scarred for life because of the father's conduct."
The father does have supervised access to the son in question and to his other son as well.
