September 1997

Justice Smith gave custody of a young child to a mother with a documented history of child abuse and emotional problems.  Court documents revealed that the mother was on record as attacking one of her children with a butcher knife which resulted in the child calling the Halton Regional Police through a 911 emergency call.  There was also a report submitted to the court from two reputable child psychologists that stated that the child was at risk in the care of the mother.  The father on the other hand had a documented history of good parenting and affidavits from many within the community, including the principal of one school.  The mother had no references because she had no friends.  The brother-in-law of the mother's former husband stated that his brother had on his death bed told of the abuse of the children and that his life "had been a living hell" with this mother.

In court Justice Smith would not order an assessment as he considered it intrusive into the life of the children yet the mother would refuse to cooperate in any manner in mediation.  In court, Justice Smith yelled that he would place the child in the care of the CAS if the father dared to call the CAS again as a result of the child coming to him and reported being abused by the mother.

Follow-up to this case in 2004

In 2004, a follow-up to this case was conducted by Court Watch.  The child (now 10 years of age) who was the subject of Justice Smith's ruling back in 1997, reported that she had suffered years of abuse in the hands of the mother who Justice Smith gave custody to. The girl reported that during her early years, she had been thrown down the stairs at her mother's house and often had to hide in closets and under beds to escape the verbal and physical abuse of her mother.  The non-custodial father reported that his hands were tied as a result of the order of Justice Smith in 1997 and the threats by Justice Smith to punish the father if he ever called the CAS again on the mother.

Copy of the original story as reported by the Canadian Citizen's Free Press 

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