Ruling finding BC failed to protect kids overturned
Posted August 31, 2017 10:25 am.
Last Updated August 31, 2017 12:37 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – BC’s highest court has overturned a judge’s ruling against the province for failing to protect four children who many have been sexually abused by their father.
Today’s ruling will likely be appealed. The lawyer representing the mother who sued the Children’s Ministry has already confirmed he’s going to ask the Supreme Court of Canada to weigh in.
Jack Hittrich says a BC Supreme Court judge was right two years ago (2015) when he determined social workers “recklessly” disregarded their obligation to the children, who spent unsupervised time with their father in 2012.
The mother accused the father of sexually abusing one child who was a toddler at the time, but no criminal charges were ever laid.
Today’s landmark ruling by the BC Court of Appeal found Justice Paul Walker relied too much on evidence provided by an expert witness who wasn’t as qualified as she claimed to be.
Hittrich says his client — who can only be identified as JP — is “shocked and completely disappointed.”
She’s also directed him to file an appeal with Canada’s highest court.
