Ontario Review Board
Re: Piotr Koval
ORB File No: 6771
Hearing held on: Wednesday September 10, 2025
Place of Hearing: Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Mr. R. Steinberg
Members: Dr. G. Chaimowitz
Dr. R. Cormier
Mr. D. D’Intino
Mr. R. Rainboth
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Piotr Koval
Counsel: Ms. N. Bedar
Person in charge of hospital: Representative: Dr. F. Wood
Attorney-General of Ontario: Counsel: Mr. J. Ramsay
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated October 7, 2025)
Introduction
Piotr Koval was found not criminally responsible on June 1, 2015, of committing an indecent act and exposure to a person under the age of 16. He has remained under the authority of the Ontario Review Board since that time and is presently subject to a Disposition dated May 14, 2024, that orders his discharge on conditions.
The Board convened a hearing at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre on September 10, 2025, to review the Disposition, as required by s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code. At the outset of the hearing Dr. F. Wood, representing the hospital, and Mr. J. Ramsay, counsel for the Attorney General, supported the hospital recommendation that there be no change to the terms of the Disposition for the coming year, while Ms. Bedar suggested the evidence would fail to establish Mr. Koval represented a significant threat to the safety of the public and ought to be discharged absolutely. A Russian interpreter provided consecutive translation throughout the hearing.
Index Offences
The facts of the index offences are set out in the August 22, 2025, hospital report, filed as Exhibit 1 at the hearing. On April 5, 2015, Mr. Koval masturbated with his genitals exposed while standing in the hallway of St. Vladimir’s Russian Residence, a City Living complex, and staring at the female complainant. She walked away but was then followed by Mr. Koval.
Around 8:00 p.m. on the same evening, other residents, a father and his 15-year-old daughter, brought Mr. Koval an Easter dinner. He repeatedly exposed his penis to the girl while masturbating when the father’s attention was directed elsewhere.
On April 6, 2015, Mr. Koval exposed his genitals to a mother who had entered the lobby of the complex with her 19-month-old daughter.
On April 8, 2015, a nurse reported to police that on April 4, 2015, while visiting a client in Mr. Koval’s building, she was invited by the accused to give him a hug. When she did so, he brushed his hand across her right breast, and when she later left the building, he approached her and asked if she could “give him a hand job”. She did not wish to lay charges.
Background & History
Mr. Koval is presently 87 years of age. He has been subject to the terms of a discharge on conditions since his annual hearing in November 2019. He is widowed and supported by the Canadian Pension Plan. His personal supports are his son, who lives alone in an apartment in Ottawa, and his sister, who lives in Moscow. He was born in Ukraine, and at the age of 19 was conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army. He married at the age of 23.
He arrived in Canada in August 1985 and in 1990 he and his wife and son moved into an apartment at St. Vladimir’s Russian Seniors Residence. He was employed in a machine shop for 10 to 15 years after arriving in Canada but since the late 1990s has been supporting himself with disability insurance. He has a well-documented history of psychiatric treatment at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre since his arrival in Canada and has been receiving treatment on an outpatient basis since 1999. His wife died on December 25, 2009.
His extensive psychiatric history is set out in the hospital report. He was first admitted to the Royal Ottawa Hospital in 1986 for “exhibitionism and shoplifting”. He said he heard voices telling him to expose himself and to steal. Several further admissions occurred that lasted from several days to months in duration in 1988 and throughout the 1990s.
Mr. Koval had no previous criminal convictions before the commission of the index offences and no known substance abuse history.
The hospital report reviews Mr. Koval’s history of treatment while under the jurisdiction of the Board and details his course of treatment in the past reporting period. He has continued to reside at the Richmond Lodge and is seen bi-weekly by his social worker and by a psychiatrist at the hospital, with the assistance of a Russian interpreter, every four weeks.
Mr. Koval is prescribed the antipsychotic Clozapine. Recently his pharmacy stopped dispensing it to him because he had missed his monthly bloodwork. Neither the pharmacy nor Mr. Koval notified his treatment team of the termination of his medication supply. As he had not been taking Clozapine for an extended period of time, it had to be restarted at a very low dose and then slowly titrated upward. Two weeks after the recommencement of that medication Mr. Koval continued to appear off his baseline and was more withdrawn, with blunted affect, and less communicative. The hospital report notes that “extensive education was provided to the pharmacy by the hospital’s Clozapine clinic”.
Another event of concern occurred in June 2025, when it was learned that Mr. Koval had been left at his son’s apartment for an extended period of time without his son present. His son’s friend ultimately called Richmond Lodge to express concern, and he was picked up and returned to Richmond Lodge. The treatment team thereafter paused visits to Mr. Koval’s son. His son explained to treatment providers that he left the apartment at 9:00 a.m. and “passed out”. He admitted “making a mistake”.
Staff at Richmond Lodge have reported Mr. Koval’s inappropriate sexual behaviour has continued to decrease. However, he has continued to take items that do not belong to him and continued to use Morse Code to communicate with his sister in Russia, using the television remote control to “send” the Code. He is described as acting appropriately at Richmond Lodge but requires ongoing prompting to take his medication. He has told his treatment team that he is content residing at Richmond Lodge but expressed a desire to live with his son. He foresaw no challenges related to living with his son.
His mental status is described in the hospital report as being marginally unchanged over the past year. His present diagnoses are Schizophrenia, multiple episodes, in partial remission.
The authors of the hospital report considered the results of a recent HCR-20 v. 3 risk assessment tool together with the magnitude of Mr. Koval’s violent behaviour in the past and concluded in the report that he presents a moderate risk of future violence -- in particular, committing the offences of indecent act in a public place and exposing his genitals to a person under the age of 16 for a sexual purpose. The authors state that his reoffence scenario involves exhibitionistic behaviour (exposing his genitals and masturbating in public) due to an acute increase in impulsive and disinhibited behaviour and/or due to command hallucinations related to his Schizophrenia. They note his long history of illegal sexual behaviour of that nature, which occurred during exacerbations of his Schizophrenia.
Accordingly, they recommend the necessary and appropriate disposition that is least restrictive and onerous at the present time involves the continuation of all terms of the present conditional discharge for the coming year. They consider the present condition requiring him to live at the Richmond Lodge to continue to be necessary and appropriate to manage his risk, and they opine that both Mr. Koval and his son lack insight into his risk of decompensation and illegal sexual behaviour. They feel Mr. Koval would likely attempt to move in with his son in the absence of a residence condition.
The treatment team concludes he would present an increased threat to public safety were he to return to live with his son. Due to his son’s anticipated inadequate supervision of his behaviour (evidenced by him leaving his father unattended in his apartment and the continuing communication difficulties encountered), they consider the risk of psychiatric decompensation resulting from distress and/or missed medication doses would increase.
Evidence at the Hearing
Dr. F. Wood testified on behalf of the hospital. He confirmed the details set out above from the hospital report, including Mr. Koval’s residence at the Richmond Lodge, the continuing care he has received from the hospital, and difficulty the treatment team has had in communicating with his son. Although the treatment team had paused visits until they could communicate after he left his father in his apartment in June, despite repeated attempts to contact him it was not until the end of July 2025 that Mr. Koval’s son contacted the treatment team. Dr. Wood considered an evaluation of the safety of the home to be necessary before the re-commencement of visits.
Dr. Wood also confirmed the noticeable change in Mr. Koval’s mental state that resulted from medication non-compliance following the termination of his Clozapine supply by his pharmacy.
He adopted the concern expressed by the treatment team that in the absence of a residence condition Mr. Koval would very likely move in with his son, be inadequately supervised, become medication non-compliant, and quickly decompensate. He noted that Mr. Koval requires supervision of medication administration at Richmond Lodge and said monitoring of his medication compliance is essential, as he has been prescribed oral Clozapine, which requires blood tests and other monitoring to screen for serious side effects.
In response to questions from Ms. Bedar, while Dr. Wood agreed no harm occurred when Mr. Koval was left unsupervised by his son, he stated the concern related to the lack of supervision and responsible conduct by an individual entrusted to oversee him on an indirect community pass. He noted that in the past year treatment providers have not been able to speak with Mr. Koval’s son, despite repeated attempts to contact him. He acknowledged that since the commencement of Clozapine 18 months ago there has been a decrease in Mr. Koval’s sexual behaviour but noted the improvement occurred in the context of a supervised residence with observed compliance with medication administration. He viewed Mr. Koval’s television remote control Morse Code “communication” with his sister in Moscow as indicating ongoing residual psychosis.
In response to further questions, Dr. Wood stated that if Mr. Koval were no longer under the jurisdiction of the Board, his continued treatment by hospital staff was unlikely. In his view, management of Mr. Koval’s Schizophrenia was the most relevant risk factor. He thought Mr. Koval’s medication regimen of Clozapine to be a significant protective factor against recommission of offences. A secondary risk factor would involve Mr. Koval moving in with his son, with whom he lived at the time of the index offences. He echoed the concern in the hospital report that lack of supervision by his son would lead to medication non-compliance, mental decompensation, and re-emergence of inappropriate sexual behaviour.
In response to a question by a panel member, Dr. Wood indicated that Mr. Koval does not presently have a community psychiatrist, who are in short supply in the Ottawa area and have lengthy waiting lists. He noted that the Clozapine medication regimen requires a psychiatrist who is associated with the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre to prescribe it. Another difficulty if Mr. Koval were not subject to the jurisdiction of the Board would involve him following up on a continuing basis with the community psychiatrist, which has been an ongoing problem in the past. At Richmond Lodge nurses and personal support workers assist with medication administration and attend to Mr. Koval’s hygiene and nourishment needs. Dr. Wood stated he would be able to remain at Richmond Lodge if he chose to stay after being absolutely discharged from the jurisdiction of the Board.
The treatment team does not support Mr. Koval living with his son, who had a drug problem in the past and failed to explain how he fell asleep for an extended period of time after he left his father in his apartment.
Neither counsel for the Attorney-General nor the accused adduced evidence at the hearing. In their final submissions counsel maintained their initial positions.
Conclusion and Disposition
- Having heard the evidence and considered the exhibit and the submissions of the parties, the panel concludes the evidence establishes on a balance of probabilities that the accused continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public. His longstanding
desire to resume residing with his son in the apartment they have occupied for decades leads to the conclusion that if not subject to the jurisdiction of the Board, Mr. Koval would return to that residence.
The evidence is clear that Mr. Koval’s son is not presently capable of supervising him and liaising with treatment providers. The unfortunate circumstance with the pharmacy terminating his medication supply without informing his care team demonstrates the rapid decompensation in Mr. Koval’s mental state in the absence of adherence to his Clozapine regimen.
We have no confidence his son is able to ensure that his father’s medication administration and mental state will be monitored responsibly, inappropriate sexual behaviour in public does not arise, and communication with hospital staff will be maintained. We note that Mr. Koval continues to have residual psychotic symptoms despite his medication compliance in a controlled setting. We also note that if absolutely discharged Mr. Koval will be in the community unsupervised among a vast victim pool.
The evidence also demonstrates that Mr. Koval does not presently have available alternative accommodation in the community, psychiatric follow-up, or a family physician to provide ongoing care and medication for his many medical conditions set out in the hospital report.
In all the circumstances, considering the four factors as set out in s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code, public safety being the paramount consideration, the panel concludes that continuation of the present discharge on conditions in all respects for the coming year is the necessary and appropriate and least restrictive and onerous disposition.
DATED this 7th day of October 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Mr. R. Steinberg
Alternate Chairperson
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Office of the Registrar
Ontario Review Board