Former Child In Care Alleges Staggering Abuse

TORONTO, April 2, 2024 /CNW/ - A man who the Children's Aid Society of Toronto (CAS) put in over forty (40) residential placements between the ages of 4 to 18 has filed a multi-million-dollar lawsuit alleging he experienced repeated physical, psychological, and sexual abuse while in care.

Johnathan "Johnny" Stavrou, 29, has named the CAS, the Crown, several youth treatment centres and group homes, and his former foster parents as defendants in a statement of claim outlining years of shocking abuse.

Stavou's lawyer, Paul Miller of Howie, Sacks & Henry LLP, says the case shows a catastrophic failure on the part of the CAS to protect a vulnerable youth who had already suffered from early childhood trauma while he was in their care.

"In the face of horrific and prolonged abuse, Johnny Stavrou's perseverance is remarkable," Miller says. "But this intelligent and talented man must continually carry the burden of this traumatic past as he navigates life. It's unjust that Johnny should have to bear the tremendously damaging emotional and financial costs of this abuse on his own when it was the system mandated to protect him that repeatedly failed him."

In his statement of claim, Stavrou alleges he:

• suffered physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his former foster parents, Kelly and Genna McCoy, in large part due to his sexual orientation. Stavrou identified as queer from a young age.
• was arbitrarily and unjustly detained, subjected to solitary confinement, physical and mechanical restraints, and forced to take psychotropic drugs intended to pacify and sedate him at the Toronto-based Youthdale Treatment Centres Limited.
• experienced physical and sexual abuse while living in multiple group homes and residences. This abuse included: routine physical restraints; dislocating a kneecap after being pushed down a stairwell by staff, homophobic taunts and bullying by staff and residents; exposure to situations where he witnessed staff watching pornography, showing explicit images to each other, and actively discussing and inquiring about residents' masturbatory knowledge and habits; and sexual and physical abuse by other youth at residences.

As a result of these living conditions, Stavrou was repeatedly hospitalized after attempting to inflict self-harm or commit suicide in nearly all his residential placements.

As a result of this unconscionable upbringing, healthy personal and professional relationships remain largely elusive for Stavrou. Nevertheless, the lessons he's learned from his own past experiences with state-run institutions strongly influence his work as a first-responder. As a primary care paramedic, he endorses a trauma-informed approach in his interactions with patients, enabling them to receive safe, efficient, and emphatic emergency healthcare. He also demonstrates resolute determination to help other survivors of abuses in the system as an individual advocate in the Collective of Child Welfare Survivors.

"It is important that I hold the state accountable for my trauma. I want to ensure that no child is forgotten about ever again in Ontario's child welfare system," Stavrou says.

SOURCE Howie, Sacks & Henry LLP