Re: Mohamed Azam Tuan Kichil
ORB File No: 8517
Hearing held on: Thursday September 11, 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: Mohamed Azam Tuan Kichil Counsel: Ms. M. McMahon
The person in charge of hospital: Representative: Dr. J. Hwang
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Mr. J. Ramsey
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated October 15, 2025)
Introduction
On March 18, 2024, Mohamed Azam Tuan Kichil was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder on a charge of sexual assault contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada (“Criminal Code”).
He is currently subject to a Disposition Order dated September 18, 2024, which detains him within the Secure Forensic Unit at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre (“ROMHC”), and which provides various terms and conditions, as well as privileges up to permission to reside in the community in accommodation approved by the Person in Charge.
Mr. Tuan Kichil is also currently subject to Judicial Interim Release for charges of sexual interference with a person under sixteen years of age and sexual assault that allegedly occurred on April 4, 2023. Those offences are still working their way through the criminal justice system.
On September 11, 2025, a panel of the Ontario Review Board (“ORB”) convened in person and a hearing was held at ROMHC. The purpose of the hearing was to determine if Mr. Tuan Kichil represents a significant threat to the safety of the public as defined in the Criminal Code of Canada, and if so, the necessary and appropriate disposition.
For the reasons set out below, the Board unanimously finds that Mr. Tuan Kichil continues to meet the threshold for significant threat to the safety of the public and that the necessary and appropriate Disposition is a continuation of the existing Detention Order with no changes to its terms and conditions.
Current Psychiatric Diagnoses:
Schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, multiple episodes, currently in partial remission.
Cannabis use disorder, mild.
Index Offences:
- The facts giving rise to the index offences are described in last year’s Reasons for Disposition as follows:
“On the 17th day of June 2023, Mohamed [Tuan Kichil] was an in-patient on the sixth (6th) floor at the Ottawa Hospital – Civic Campus, in the City of Ottawa. The sixth (6th) floor of the aforementioned hospital is the psychiatric in-patient unit. On this date, the victim was also an in-patient on the same ward in the same hospital.
At 1525 hrs on the date in question the victim was seated on a bench in the hallway speaking on the telephone when approached by the accused. The accused walked towards her and hugged her as she extended her arms. The accused then stood in front of her as she spoke on the telephone, sitting down after a minute or so.
Shortly thereafter the victim got up off the bench and the accused’s hand is seen on the small of her back as she stands up. The victim then tries to walk toward her room and is grabbed by the accused pulling her into him as he envelops her with his arms. The pair kiss and the accused proceeds to place his hands at the back of her head and pull her in toward him. In addition to this, the accused wraps his legs around the victim and pulls her in.
The victim then uses her right hand and places it against the wall to push herself away from the accused and out of his embrace. After this, the victim walks away toward her room. The accused watches the victim as she walks down the hallway and into her room, following her 30 seconds after.
Once in the room, the victim gets into her hospital bed and the accused enters her portion of the two (2) bed rooms. Once in the room the accused stands beside the victim’s bed and proceeds to touch her breasts and buttocks with his hands over her clothing. The victim protests these acts and tells the accused she is not interested. The accused then proceeds to expose his penis in her view and masturbate until he climaxed.”
Without Prejudice Position of the Parties:
At the commencement of the hearing, the parties were canvassed for their initial positions.
The Hospital took the position that Mr. Tuan Kichil continues to meet the threshold for significant threat to the safety of the public and that the necessary and appropriate Disposition was a continuation of the existing Detention Order with no changes to the terms and conditions.
Counsel for the Attorney General supported the Hospital’s position.
Counsel for the accused also agreed with the Hospital’s position and thus the Board had a joint recommendation presented for its consideration.
Evidence at the Hearing:
The Board had available to it the evidence and documents forming the Record, the Exhibits, and oral evidence from Dr. J. Hwang, who is Mr. Tuan Kichil’s attending psychiatrist.
Dr. Hwang testified by way of update to the Hospital Report that Mr. Tuan Kichil had been discharged from the crisis unit of this hospital on September 3rd of this year. Prior to the discharge, a family meeting was held with the patient and his father regarding the reason for the hospitalization as well as the concerns from the treatment team. At this meeting it was explained and emphasized to the family the importance following the conditions of not just the review board issued disposition but also the bail conditions and attending meetings at the Hospital.
However, despite better understanding from the family about Mr. Tuan Kichil’s diagnoses there are still remaining concerns about his cannabis use and his limited insight on the effects of cannabis on his mental health. Due to his current bail conditions, his engagement in therapy group will remain quite limited as it is only his family members that are allowed to bring him to the hospital. And if he were to attend several therapy groups, that means that his family members will have to stay in the hospital for hours. Dr. Hwang has been in contact with his lawyer in the past week, and they will be asking the Court again for a bail variation to allow a treatment team member to transport him to and from therapy groups.
In response to questions from Mr. Tuan Kichil’s counsel, Dr. Hwang testified that Mr. Tuan Kichil has been more open with her and the treatment team about the symptoms he has been experiencing. The concern that the Hospital had was that during the times when the patient is not at the hospital for his appointment, he would share those concerns with his family members, and then due to limited ways of communication, those concerns were not directed to the team promptly, leading to several hospitalizations over the last six months.
Dr. Hwang confirmed that Mr. Tuan Kichil accepts his diagnoses, is able to recognize when he is suffering from hallucinations and delusions and that in the past year, he was adherent to his injectable and oral medications.
Dr. Hwang also confirmed that she hoped Mr. Tuan Kichil’s bail conditions could be varied, as the rehabilitative groups he needs to attend cannot be attended virtually.
In response to questions from the Panel, Dr. Hwang confirmed that in the past reporting year Mr. Tuan Kichil has not asked to discontinue any of his medications and has stated that he intends to continue taking them because he does not want to experience psychotic symptoms.
Dr. Hwang confirmed that there are no plans to alter Mr. Tuan Kichil’s medication presently and that at his current dose he does not experience any positive symptoms of psychosis, but rather, his symptoms are largely negative ones such as poverty of speech and limited motivation. However, Mr. Tuan Kichil had in the recent past experienced some reemergence of psychotic symptoms which led to three hospitalizations in the last 15 months.
Dr. Hwang confirmed the most recent readmission in July of 2025 was apparently necessitated because Mr. Tuan Kichil had consumed cannabis a week prior to his readmission and began experiencing auditory hallucinations and delusional beliefs. She opined that cannabis use was the trigger for the reemergence of these psychotic symptoms because Mr. Tuan Kichil had been medication compliant, and the medication had been effective absent the consumption of cannabis.
Dr. Hwang confirmed that in the past year there have been no incidents of inappropriate sexual behaviour or episodes of physical or verbal aggression.
In the coming report year, Dr. Hwang wants to see improvement from Mr. Tuan Kichil into the connection between his cannabis use and the negative impact on his mental health, as well as being involved in group therapy for addictions and a longer period of mental status stability without further readmissions to the Hospital.
Dr. Hwang explained that the most likely reoffence scenario for Mr. Tuan Kichil would involve him using cannabis. She explained that when he uses cannabis, he is quite sensitive to that substance and he will become psychotic within about a week or two, which then leads to him having delusions and hallucinations, typically involving his family members and acting violently towards his family members or people who are around him. This would be a very similar scenario to the index offence - even though it would not be sexual in nature.
Analysis and Conclusions
Having heard and considered the entirety of the evidence as well as the submissions from the parties, the Board finds that Mr. Tuan Kichil continues to meet the threshold for significant threat to the safety of the public and thus we accept the joint recommendation of the parties.
A significant threat to the safety of the public cannot be speculative. It must entail a real risk of serious physical or psychological harm arising from conduct that is both serious and criminal in nature.
In determining whether Mohamed Azem Tuan Kichil continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public the Board has carefully analyzed the evidence as it relates to the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Winko, 1999 CanLII 694 (SCC), [1999] 2 S.C.R. 625.
Mr. Tuan Kichil suffers from a psychotic disorder which is well treated by his current medication regime and the structure and supports of the forensic mental health system but is notoriously treatment resistant. However, as set out in the Hospital Report, Mr. Tuan Kichil has a well-documented history of substance abuse and struggles with the insight into the link between substance use and his psychotic symptoms. He has not been able to meaningfully address this concern through therapy because of the restrictive nature of his bail conditions.
Mr. Tuan Kichil’s index offence was a sexual offence and his outstanding charges in the criminal courts are also sexual in nature but involve a victim under the age of 16. Mr. Tuan Kichil has experienced recent periods of mental status instability, prompted in some cases by cannabis use, which led to readmissions to the Hospital on three occasions in the past 15 months. His risk to the public has not been managed in the past by Community Treatment Orders and he has a history of medication noncompliance.
In consideration of all the evidence, the submissions of the parties, and the criteria set forth in s. 672.54, the paramount consideration being the safety of the public, in addition to the mental condition of Mr. Tuan Kichil, his reintegration into society and his other needs, the Panel finds that a continuation of the existing Detention Order Disposition is the necessary and appropriate Disposition.
DATED this 15th day of October 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Mr. D. D’Intino Legal Member
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Office of the Registrar Ontario Review Board