Brandon Sun - PRINT EDITION
A convicted teen sex offender who allegedly reoffended while on leave from a city group home has been released on bail.
He’ll return to the home that provides treatment for teen sex offenders, which is reportedly located near a city elementary school and spray park.
Crown attorney Ron Toews told court that he doesn’t know why the teen was allowed to leave the home to visit his mom, but it seems that decision allegedly led to his reoffending.
“I would suggest that he was allowed or placed into a situation where he was able to continue a sexual offence against another individual,” Crown attorney Ron Toews said during a bail hearing on Thursday.
Toews described the 16-year-old’s troubling past as he argued against the boy’s release.
Child and Family Services apprehended the boy when he was about two years old and it appears they’re still involved.
However, court heard that between January 2010 and February 2012, while living with his mother, he’d effectively groomed his sister to perform a sex act on him on request.
The assaults were committed while the boy was 13 to 15 years old, while the girl would have been eight years old within that time frame.
A short time after those assaults came to light, the boy admitted to sex acts against another young girl that were committed four to five years previously.
In October, he was sentenced to a total of two years probation for two counts of sexual assault.
At the suggestion of a probation officer, and with the support of a judge, the boy was placed in a Brandon home for teenage boys who require sex offender treatment.
Toews said it’s a 24-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week program that lasts 12 to 18 months.
There are six spots for boys aged 13 to 17 years.
The teens learn appropriate boundaries, are taught about healthy sexuality, are required to attend school and encouraged to take part in activities such as volunteering.
However, Toews said it appears the teen had been allowed to leave the home as of Feb. 17, when he allegedly reoffended.
He was visiting his mom’s home in another Westman community at the same time as a girl, his long-term friend, was also visiting.
The girl had agreed to sleep in the same bed as the accused where she was allegedly sexually assaulted by the boy.
A CFS worker reported the allegations on Feb. 19.
The boy is now charged with breach of a youth court sentence (effectively breach of probation) and sexual assault.
The latest allegations against the boy have not been proven in court.
Toews told court that he hadn’t determined why yet, but it appears the boy was released from the program to visit his mother, with whom he’s had a poor relationship.
Defence lawyer Ryan Fawcett said the teen wasn’t “released” from the group home where he still lives but was simply visiting his mother.
Fawcett said a CFS worker familiar with the teen’s history, who was present in court, was supportive of the boy returning to the group home.
He said the teens at the home are on a nightly curfew as of 10 p.m. and the home is monitored around the clock.
Judge John Combs said he was satisfied that the release plan protected the public and granted bail for the teen who will live at the group home again.
While on bail, the boy can’t have unsupervised contact with kids under 12 years old.
He’s also under a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew unless with a CFS representative.
According to the address given in court, it’s located on a cul-de-sac across the street from the grounds of an elementary school.
There are play structures on the grounds and a spray park at the farthest point away from the group home.
» ihitchen@brandonsun.com
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition March 1, 2013
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A convicted teen sex offender who allegedly reoffended while on leave from a city group home has been released on bail.
He’ll return to the home that provides treatment for teen sex offenders, which is reportedly located near a city elementary school and spray park.
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A convicted teen sex offender who allegedly reoffended while on leave from a city group home has been released on bail.
He’ll return to the home that provides treatment for teen sex offenders, which is reportedly located near a city elementary school and spray park.
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