Vulnerable Prey

Over the course of six months, a worker in provincially-funded Victoria homes for developmentally-disabled adults, Theoderek Marten Westerhof, preyed sexually on several of the people he was supposed to be looking after.

Reference to the assaults is made in reports by staff from the Vancouver Island Health Authority department that licenses the homes. This reporter received the reports as part of the response to a couple of freedom of information requests filed by Monday Magazine in Victoria.

Details in the reports are sketchy, and much has been severed to protect the privacy of the victims. Out of respect for that privacy we've decided to withhold the name and address of the Fernwood group home. The home is funded by the Ministry of Children and Family Development and run by the Shekinah Homes Society, which used to be known as L'Arche Victoria before it changed its name in 2003. Shekinah also holds licences for at least two other homes in the area.

The five-page report by licensing officer Amanda Arwen says the sexual assault investigation was conducted by the Victoria police. Licensing learned of the case on March 8, 2004, the report says, when Shekinah director Lynda Vallee told the office there was an allegation someone had sexually assaulted a resident at the five-bed home. A summary report from March 16, 2006, says Vallee told licensing the accused "had confessed to the Victoria Police that he had sexual contact with [a] person in care." Licensing found there had indeed been "sexual abuse" at the home, but the agency had taken appropriate action and no action was taken on the licence.

There were similar problems at homes run by another contractor, Kardel Consulting Services. A March 22, 2006 report about a home in North Saanich says the Victoria police's Clark Russell investigated a March 2004 allegation of sexual abuse against more than one "persons in care." Another report says he investigated a sexual abuse at a Kardel home in Central Saanich. In both cases, few details are included, but whatever happened met the definition of "sexual abuse" set out in the legislation. The licensee was cooperative and acted appropriately, the reports find.

When I reach Russell on the phone at the Victoria police department, he says he remembers the case well. It involved three homes, he recalls, one in Victoria, one in Central Saanich and one in North Saanich. He pauses, saying he's not sure how to describe the victims, before saying they were "severely handicapped."

None of them could give statements to investigators, he says. "The people who were victimized, by definition, can't speak for themselves." That poses a challenge for the police. "It makes it hard to know what's going on," he says. "It made me think, 'how much of this goes on that we're not even aware of?'"

Unprompted confession

Westerhof might never have been caught, says Russell, if he hadn't confessed. Police were unaware a crime had even been committed when Westerhof came into the station to say what he'd done, Russell says. "He couldn't live with himself, I guess."

Sex offenders tend to stay mum about their crimes. When the victims can't speak for themselves, the stories are even less likely to be told. "If he'd been really, truly hardened, if you will . . . would we have ever caught him? No one knows," says Russell. "I like to think we would have got him eventually, but I doubt it."

Charges were laid, he says, but it never went to trial. A search of court documents shows Westerhof was charged with five counts of sexual assault. He pled guilty to charges from Sept. 1, 2002, Jan. 21, 2003, and March 1, 2003. Russell says in all three counts the victims were female. Two other counts, both also from March 1, 2003, were given a stay of proceedings. While Russell couldn't provide details of what happened, he says the five counts were "various forms of sexual assault."

The Victoria police generally like to release details of what they are working on, he says. In a situation like this, there might have been other victims the police could have learned about by publicizing the case. But the families didn't want a "three ring circus" in the media. "They were upset and angry," Russell says. "Their children were already victimized. They didn't want them re-victimized."

The charges were laid in Victoria court, but appearances and the Aug. 31, 2005 sentencing happened in the much quieter Western Community Court. It was one of tens of thousands of provincial court cases that year, and it went unnoticed by the media.

There are people in our society who prey on the weak and vulnerable, Russell says. The Robert Pickton case, the trial for which continues in Vancouver, where dozens of women disappeared from Downtown Eastside Vancouver streets over a period of years, is an example. Homeless people are often victims as well, he says, but rarely see justice. "Nobody notices because the victims would never dream of coming to the police."

He puts sexually assaulting "severely handicapped" people in the same category. "Because they can't communicate it goes unreported usually."

Asked what he thinks of the crime, he says, "I don't think too much of it. We should be hammering these guys."

In this case, Westerhof got two years in jail and three years on probation. He had to give a DNA sample and became a registered sex offender. He was fined a $300 victim surcharge -- $100 for each of the three counts he pled guilty to. If he served his full sentence, which Russell says is unlikely, he would have been released in August 2007. Russell says he doesn't know where Westerhof is now, though he should be reporting to a probation officer.

The sentence appears low, says Russell, but Westerhof had no related criminal record and he pled guilty, which courts typically take as a sign of remorse and use to justify reducing a sentence.

The file on the case held at the Victoria court house includes a transcript of the sentencing, but access to it is restricted. Monday magazine applied to have the file opened, and as of today was awaiting a chance to argue in front of a judge for access to it.

There is some value in casting light on the case, says Russell, who in January will have been a police officer for 30 years. "It's an isolated incident but it does happen," he says. "I don't know how prevalent it's been. It's the only file like this I've been involved with in a long career."

Asked how the homes responded, he says, "They were good. Very co-operative. No arguments there. They were devastated as well . . . [I had] full co-operation from the various groups I dealt with, the homes and the ministry."

Still, he wonders how a tight job market and a growing need for care workers both for disabled adults and for seniors bodes for the future. "They're all desperate for staff," he says. In the Westerhof case, he was employed by several homes, he says, as many workers are. As we build more long term care homes to serve an aging population, he says, and staff is harder to find, it will be tempting for the government to lower standards for qualifications. Such a push is already underway for daycares.

Other instances

There is no doubt sexual abuse happens from time to time in B.C.'s group homes, and against other vulnerable people. Russell says when an allegation comes to police attention, he wonders whether it is the first offense the person committed, or the 400th. When someone preys on victims who can't speak for themselves, he says, it is hard to know.

Even when allegations are made, they are difficult to investigate. But other reports obtained from VIHA suggest allegations of sexual abuse come up regularly.

On October 17, 2005, for instance, there was a complaint of sexual abuse at the Richmond House, a Community Living Services home at 3571 Richmond Road for adults with developmental disabilities. A worker told the house manager, Theresa Price, she "witnessed a suspicious situation on her shift during the night." The report by licensing inspector Amanda McReynolds notes "Centaine has a policy that no care is to be provided by staff to members of the opposite sex. This situation, therefore, appeared suspicious."

The investigation was turned over to Saanich police. A spokesperson for the department, John Price, says an officer interviewed three of the people involved in the case and a fourth was "not cognitive enough" to interview. In the end the allegation was deemed unfounded and police laid no charges.

At the Armstrong Special Care Home, a Community Living Services facility for adults with developmental disabilities at 1061 Mina Avenue in west Saanich, there was an allegation of sexual abuse made on Dec. 9, 2005. No further details are included. The address is in Saanich, but Price could find no record of the incident.

At Cedar Hill House, a residential home for children at 3434 Cedar Hill Road, licensing officer Amanda McReynolds investigated an April 27, 2006 allegation that included "alcohol and drugs provided by a staff person and some sexual advances by manager." The report says one of the residents told staff working the evening shift that during the day someone working at the home had given at least one resident beer and marijuana. It is unclear from the report what action was taken or whether the allegation was substantiated.

The Specialized Youth Detox, at 1928 Ashgrove near the Royal Jubilee Hospital, also had a complaint about sexual abuse. A Nov. 23, 2005 report says a licensing officer discovered the allegation while inspecting the home's log of non-reportable incidents. The log contained records of "many" incidents that should have been reported to the licensing office, the report says. Details are not included in the report, but it was reported to the police.

It's not always the workers who are to blame. A Jan. 31, 2005 report on Pearl House, run by Beacon Support Services, says, "On February 16, 2004, an allegation was received that a person-in-care, [name withheld], sexually abused another person-in-care, [name withheld]." Police investigated, and following their report, "The Licensing investigation found, on a balance of probabilities, that there was sufficient evidence to substantiate the allegation of sexual abuse of a person-in-care."

Beacon wrote a plan to prevent future sexual abuse at the home, which satisfied licensing officers that no further action was necessary.

A 2002 story in Vancouver's The Province newspaper included details about Happy Valley Home Care in Victoria, which lost government funding in 2001 after over 20 serious incidents were reported in six months. The most serious, the article says, was one where witnesses at a local mall saw a male staff member sexually fondling a female resident who was autistic.

No charges were laid, but the story says the police found "The physical abuse was put down to inadequate training and skills on the part of the home-care workers. Also, serious problems with the management of the facility."

The same story says a female staff person at a Surrey group home who showered naked with a male resident on a camping trip. Another staff member observed her slapping his "naked buttocks" while he stomped his feet in protest. "The confused resident had the mental capacity of a child," the story says, adding the staff member argued the resident was too mentally disabled to have "any concept of linking women with sexuality." She was fired.

In 2003, the Nanaimo Daily News reported on the case of Allan Ashley-Pryce, who was charged with sexually assaulting an elderly patient in the dementia ward of a Nanaimo care home.

Sexual abuse of vulnerable people may not be that rare after all.

Who's responsible?

In an often cited 1992 B.C. case, the courts found the province was responsible for assaults at a group home on a ranch outside Clinton. According to one summary, John Critchley pled guilty to sexually assaulting 16 boys over a 29 year period. He got 17 years in prison.

But the province also played a role, the courts said. "The provincial government was found liable for John Critchley's assaults because it conferred a 'parent-like power' on the sadistic pedophile," says an account.

In the Westerhof case, Russell says, the group home managers were shocked. "I don't think those facilities knew anything," he says. "I don't think they missed anything. This guy had no record to speak of . . . I didn't see evidence of neglect or willful blindness, anything like that."

The homes and the funding agencies failed to protect vulnerable people in their care, he says, but there would have been few clues. "It's one of those things. Everyone wears masks, right?"

Still, lessons were learned. "It was a reminder to everyone to be vigilant," he says. "Institutional arrogance is a dangerous thing."

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