Family calling for speedier investigations after assault charges dropped
CTV
One woman says she wants to see investigations into abuse allegations for people living in care homes sped up.
One woman says she wants to see investigations into abuse allegations for people living in care homes sped up.
Dianna Klassen says her father David Middleton was physically and sexually abused at Oakville Place Care Home. She says he received excellent care for most of his stay at the home, but after he died she read a statement from a whistleblower learning her dad had been abused.
According to Klassen, in a whistleblower's report in June 2022, she learned her father was touched inappropriately and a pillow was held over his head to prevent him from screaming.
Klassen says he was one of 15 residents a whistleblower named to the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority as being abused.
Two health care aid workers were charged - each with one count of assault. Klassen was told because her father had died that charges couldn’t be pressed.
The charges were stayed in May, with the Crown prosecutor saying there is no longer a reasonable likelihood of conviction.
Laura Tamblyn Watts is a lawyer and the CEO of seniors’ advocacy group CanAge. She says across Canada, it's not uncommon for care home abuse or neglect reports to be dropped at the prosecutorial stage.
