Ontario Review Board
Re: Shane Kellar
ORB File No: 7804
Hearing held on: Monday, January 20, 2025
Place of hearing: Providence Care Hospital, Kingston
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Ms. K.A. Connidis
Members: Dr. R. Kunjukrishnan
Dr. P. Wright
Mr. A. Bouvier
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Mr. Shane Kellar
Counsel: Ms. E. Holder
The person in charge of hospital: Counsel: Ms. T. Tom
Representative: Dr. Z. Selhi
Attorney-General of Ontario: Counsel: Mr. A. Scott
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated March 21, 2025)
Introduction, Issues, and Positions of the Parties
On November 19, 2020. Mr. Kellar was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (‘NCR’) on charges of arson with disregard for human life, being unlawfully in a dwelling, killing or injuring an animal other than cattle, and assault with a weapon.
Mr. Kellar is currently subject to a Disposition of the Board dated October 23, 2023, detaining him at the Secure Forensic Unit of Providence Care Hospital ('Providence Care') in Kingston, with a number of conditions and with privileges extending to living in the community of Kingston in approved accommodation.
On January 20, 2025, the Board convened at the hospital to conduct the annual review of Mr. Kellar's disposition. The issues to be decided were whether Mr. Kellar poses a significant threat to the safety of the public, and, if so, what is the necessary and appropriate disposition for him for the coming year. In deciding the second issue, the Board is required by s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code to take four factors into account, being the safety of the public, as the paramount factor, and Mr. Kellar's mental condition, his reintegration into society, and his other needs.
The evidence at the hearing included a Hospital Report dated September 27, 2024 (the ‘Hospital Report’) and the viva voce evidence of Dr. Z. Selhi.
At the outset of the hearing, Ms. Tom indicated that the hospital was recommending no change to the disposition for the coming year, concurring with the unanimous view of Mr. Kellar's treatment team. Both Mr. Scott for the Attorney General and Ms. Holder for Mr. Kellar supported that position. Their joint position was reiterated in closing submissions. For the reasons given below, the Board agreed and ordered the disposition accordingly.
The Index Offences (September 25, 2019)
- The circumstances of the index offences are set out in the Hospital Report (pgs. 2-6), with relevant details noted in collateral information, and can be summarized as follows:
In the evening of September 25, 2019, Mr. Kellar entered the home of his former girlfriend, Ms. A., in the City of Quinte West, in order to visit his stepdaughter, Ms. A's daughter. Ms. A. was not there and he did not have her permission to be there.
Inside the house, he confronted Ms. A's new boyfriend, Mr. B. Mr. Kellar removed a knife from his waist band and placed it on the coffee table directly in front of Mr. B., attempting to threaten him. Fearing for his safety Mr. B. left the house.
Mr. Kellar, alone with his stepdaughter in the house, began to act strangely. He put the family cat in a second floor closet and, telling his stepdaughter there were people outside wanting to kill them, attempted to have her also stay in the closet for her safety. She refused to do that. She said Mr. Kellar set light to a book and told her not to tell anyone. She reportedly was frightened by the things he was telling her.
Shortly after, Mr. Kellar left the room, and his stepdaughter then noticed the smell of smoke, saw a bed on fire, and warned him. At about 7:30 p.m., he (perhaps with his stepdaughter) went to the neighbours and told them the house was on fire. The fire department was called, and Mr. Kellar (and his stepdaughter) returned to the driveway of the house. There, Mr. Kellar was confronted by Ms. A. and a witness. He fled on foot through an adjacent field. He was located and arrested a short distance away.
As a result of the fire, the family cat died and the house was extensively damaged.
Personal History, from the Hospital Report
The Hospital Report should be referred to for details of Mr. Kellar's personal background prior to the index offences. As that Report is an exhibit, its contents are not reiterated here. However, the following points are noted.
Mr. Kellar is now 40 years old, currently single, and apparently is estranged from his siblings and has no source of informal support from family members. He was born in Belleville, the middle of three brothers, and has an adopted sister and a step-sister. He never knew his biological father. His mother and stepfather ('father') were married for almost thirty years, and both have now died, his mother in about 2014 and his father in 2021.
Mr. Kellar went to school in Belleville, and left secondary school just before completing Grade 12. He said he had been suspended “a lot” due to fighting with bullies. He has a history of childhood trauma, including verbal and physical abuse, as well as reported sexual abuse, and a previous Gladue Report is noted to have highlighted the impact of generational trauma on him. After school, he was employed in various jobs and described himself as "a jack of all trades". He moved back and forth between his parents' home and living with girlfriends. He reported having a number of children with different women, including twin boys who were adopted when he was seventeen years old.
Mr. Kellar has a prior history of crystal methamphetamine use over a five-year period, as well as hash oil, cocaine, and opioid use. He reported having received Methadone treatment, for about four years, prescribed by a doctor for him.
He apparently moved back in with his father sometime after his mother died. By that time, he had begun a relationship with Ms. A., which lasted about six years, during which she described him as having been very short-tempered, lashing out, and expressing a lot of paranoia. Their relationship ended in July 2019, shortly before the index offence. Ms. A described their separation as the result of his behaviours, including being paranoid and threatening. He saw his stepchildren periodically after that. Ms. A. reported that his stepdaughter – her daughter – told her she was happy to see Mr. Kellar upon his arrival on the day of the index offence.
His first hospital attendance for mental health care was on August 7, 2019, police brought him to a hospital Emergency Department, after finding him acting strangely: digging in a swamp in a delusional belief that Ms. A. was missing and buried there. He reported that, a day and a half previously, he had used crystal methamphetamine along with drinking seven or eight beers, and that he was taking Vyvanse and Methadone daily. His urine drug screen was positive for methamphetamines, amphetamines, and methadone. He was treated with activated charcoal. He declined addictions counselling offered, was verbally abusive and then physically aggressive, and he left the hospital about three hours after his arrival.
At the time of the index offence in September 2019, Mr. Kellar was living with his father in Trenton, Ontario. There are inconsistent accounts as to whether he was looking after his father or his father was looking after him. In any event, there apparently was friction between them, with Mr. Kellar reportedly having been making paranoid accusations about his father and threats about Ms. A., pacing the house with knives, and making his father fearful of him.
Current Psychiatric Diagnoses, from the Hospital Report and Evidence at the Hearing
- Mr. Kellar is diagnosed with:
(1) Personality Disorder-Cluster B,
(2) Substance Use Disorders, in sustained remission in a controlled setting, and
(3) Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder ('ADHD'), by history.
- Mr. Kellar has a lengthy and serious history of criminal conduct, itemized in the Hospital Report (pgs. 6-8). This history includes numerous convictions in the course of the fifteen years from 2002 (in Youth Court) through 2017 – for offences including assault causing bodily harm (two convictions), robbery, theft of a motor vehicle, possession of a weapon (four convictions), and numerous breaches of judicial orders, prohibitions, and undertakings. The sentences he has received range up to four months in custody with twelve months' probation, and repeated five-year discretionary Criminal Code weapons prohibitions.
Course under the Board’s Jurisdiction, from the Hospital Report
Reference should again be made to the Hospital Report for an account of Mr. Kellar's course under the Board, which will not be reiterated here, but the following points are noted.
In November 2020, on his admission to Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care ('Waypoint') following the NCR finding, he continued displaying a number of fairly entrenched persecutory delusions and was easily agitated when they were challenged. He was diagnosed at that time with delusional disorder, and was started on antipsychotic medications.
In July 2021, he was transferred to Providence Care. Due to his notable mental stability, his treatment with antipsychotic medications was progressively tapered, and discontinued by December 2021. His diagnosis was changed from a delusional disorder to a substance-induced psychosis at the time of the index offence. Mr. Kellar continued to be stable and work well with his team, and was granted a community living privilege in his May 2022 Disposition.
However, he became frustrated with not yet being discharged, and began disengaging from treatment and disregarding unit rules. After two September 2022 incidents of verbal threats about his psychiatrist and a co-patient, his care was transferred to Dr. Selhi. He continued to disengage from almost all members of his treatment team. By early 2023, following a loss of privileges for breaking unit rules, he refused to engage in any groups.
In 2023, while Mr. Kellar remained free of any symptoms of primary psychotic disorder, it was noted that he displayed Cluster B personality traits, including feeling mistreated and victimized and having low frustration tolerance, which led to increasing anger and aggressive interactions, and impeded his ability to establish meaningful relationships. His diagnosis was changed to Personality Disorder–Cluster B, along with the Substance Use Disorders.
His annual Board review was postponed a few months, to October 5, 2023, to enable his counsel to explore this diagnostic change with him. At that hearing, recent improvements were noted. Mr. Kellar had become much more engaged with his team, and had attended his case conferences and psychiatric interviews. He had repaired several relationships with staff, and become more involved in informal groups on the unit. He had much less difficulty adhering to his disposition and hospital rules, and had regained his use of privileges. Dr. Selhi testified at the hearing that, to progress, Mr. Kellar needed to (1) show his motivation to engage in long-term therapy, (2) re-engage with the team more than superficially, and (3) develop insight into both his substance abuse disorders and his personality disorder.
His past reporting year is described (as of September 27, 2024) as "relatively uneventful especially when compared to his previous year", with much less difficulty with staff and less redirection needed, less hostility overall, fewer difficulties adhering to his privileges and unit rules, and better behavioural control this year. He was respectful towards Dr. C. Rose, his clinical and forensic psychologist, and increasingly able to accept feedback, acknowledge he could have put more effort into their work, and express appreciation for helpful sessions and support. He said he would consider re-engaging with that therapy, once he was living in the community and had stronger motivation to attend on a regular basis.
At the same time, ongoing concerns are noted. Mr. Kellar continued his pattern of disengaging from treatment programs, such as psychotherapy and other modalities, including ones he had specifically requested. He frequently declined therapy sessions, case conferences, and other appointments. For example, Dr. Rose noted (pgs. 30-32) that he attended only 9 of 23 scheduled individual therapy sessions over the six months up to May 2024, missing or cancelling most of them, and when he did attend, his engagement did not reflect his stated motivation. He did not improve in his attendance and engagement despite Dr. Rose's many strategies and efforts to help him with that. He was assessed as overall still at a contemplative or pre-contemplative stage of readiness for change.
Mr. Kellar explained at that time that he preferred to address alcohol use in particular, and to do that through Alcohol and Narcotics Anonymous ('AA' and 'NA') meetings rather than individual therapy; that he did not feel comfortable sharing aspects of his life with the treatment team, and that he wanted to be true to himself and was satisfied with the way he was.
However, he lost motivation and had not followed through with AA and NA meetings, or with his stated employment and educational goals, by late September 2024. He had several instances of breaking rules, by trading on the unit and returning late from passes. In June 2024, he was involved in one significant physical altercation, in his aggressive retaliation when assaulted by a patient; he scored 8 on the Aggressive Incident Scale ('AIS'), declared a high risk for violence on the unit (a 'grit red' status), and placed in seclusion until the next day. He acknowledged holding attitudes supportive of violence, seeing them as necessary to protect himself and vulnerable others. He was not interested, while under the Board, in addressing such issues as the influence of childhood adversity and trauma on his adult thinking and behaviour.
Viva Voce Evidence of Dr. Z. Selhi
- Dr. Selhi has been Mr. Kellar’s attending psychiatrist since September 2022, and is a co-signatory of the Hospital Report. In examination in chief, Dr. Selhi confirmed the information set out in the Hospital Report, and that her opinion on significant threat remains the same now as set out there. Dr. Selhi further testified, in summary, as follows:
(a) The factors that contribute to her opinion of Mr. Kelly's high risk of violence are the seriousness of his index offence and criminal record, and that his violence has been mostly contained in the highly-structured hospital for several years now.
(b) The hospital plans to proceed in the next month or two with his move to an approved community accommodation. His risk of violence may increase in that setting.
(c) In the past year, his engagement has remained relatively stable, but low. He has not engaged in any recreation groups and not in many other groups. He is in one group right now geared towards his discharge. He tends to use his privileges to be out of hospital.
(d) His privileges include indirectly supervised passes within 20 km. of the hospital. He uses them every day, for up to the six hours he has on them, so he uses a good amount of his privileges. There have not been any significant behaviour concerns, including when he is on his passes, or they would not be transitioning him to community living.
(e) He has a substance-free history for the entire past reporting period. He has some insight into the role his substance use played in his index offence. But in general, his insight is relatively low into his substance use and its role in his life, and he minimizes his problematic use of substances. For treatment for that, he is now having Dialectical Behavioural Therapy ('DBT') in the hospital once a week, which began in January and will continue to February. He has now returned to 'A.A.' in the community. He plans to re-engage in the community again in another relapse prevention program. He is tested for substances, on a random basis at least once a month, and this will continue when he is living in the community. The team has discussed this with him.
(f) Dr. Selhi would be concerned if Mr. Kellar returned to using substances. They were used in the context of the index offence and significantly contributed to his behaviour. They elevate his risk and the risk to the public.
(g) It is also important where Mr. Kellar lives. In Dr. Selhi's view, he could live in independent housing when he transitions into the community. Asked how confident she was that he would be adequately supervised in that context, Dr. Selhi replied that all his needs were assessed on the 'Step-by-Step' program he completed, he did well, and he was assessed as being able to live in independent housing. He has been connected with the Case Management Team, with his Case Manager Melanie Bryant, since September 2024. He would be reporting at least once per week.
(h) It is important that the hospital be able to readmit him: If he were to start using substances, he has a high risk of relapse, and would likely need to be readmitted very quickly. Dr. Selhi is unsure if he would come in to the hospital voluntarily, if asked to do that, and gave no opinion on that as she simply does not know.
(j) Overall, Dr. Selhi would characterize Mr. Kellar's past year as being a “stable” year.
There were no questions from Mr. Scott. In answer to a question from Ms. Holder, Dr. Selhi clarified that the ADHD diagnosis Mr. Kellar carries is primarily based on his self-report in the past. He started on Wellbutrin treatment in June 2024, and has found it helps him focus.
In answer to questions from members of the Board panel, Dr. Selhi testified:
(a) With respect to the therapeutic relationship between Mr. Kellar and the team, and the openness of his communication, Dr. Selhi described it as “variable”. He has been guarded in the past, but in general, in one-on-one relationships, he is relatively open. At this time, she has a good rapport with him, and his relationship with the inpatient team is relatively good, compared to the year before. In 2022, the relationship was strained for at least six months, but it has much improved.
(b) In the past, Mr. Kellar had been on a low-to-moderate dose of antipsychotic medication. This was discontinued, and then it was noted that he had pressured speech. There are no longer concerns about a major mental illness. Dr. Selhi is satisfied with the medications he is on now. As the result of a consultation with addiction services, to evaluate a possible transition to a more suitable medication to treat opiate addiction in the community, he is now on the long-acting injectable, Sublocade, taken once a month. This was one goal the team had before proceeding with his community living transition.
(c) Respecting the ADHD diagnosis question, Dr. Selhi confirmed that Mr. Kellar takes Wellbutrin medication for a combination of his attention problems and his low mood.
(d) Over the last four months since the Hospital Report was prepared, there have been no other significant incidents. A specific community accommodation for him has not been located yet, and they will be looking at that very shortly.
Closing Submissions
In closing, Ms. Tom submitted that the evidence in the Hospital Report and in Dr. Selhi's testimony provides the basis for a finding of significant threat. With respect to continuing the same Detention Order, Ms. Tom noted the improved therapeutic relationship between Mr. Kellar and the team, his stability over the past year, and his current engagement in programming, including relating to addiction and to community transition. Ms. Tom submitted that he is ready to take the step to independent living in the community, and that he still needs a Detention Order under the Board structure when he does that, to ensure his transitional care and management, his regular substance testing, and his continuing programs in the community.
Mr. Scott adopted Ms. Tom's submissions, as did Ms. Holder, who also indicated that she was looking forward to Mr. Kellar doing well in the year ahead.
Findings and Conclusions of the Board
On the first issue, we find that Mr. Kellar presents a significant threat to the safety of the public at this time. This was uncontested, and the finding is well supported by the evidence.
The term “significant threat” is defined in s. 672.5401 of the Criminal Code as “a risk of serious physical or psychological harm to a member of the public … resulting from conduct that is criminal in nature but not necessarily violent.” In making our finding, we are guided by the principles established in Winko, 1999 CanLII 694 (SCC), [1999] 2 S.C.R. 625, as applied and elaborated in numerous judicial decisions since then. To state that jurisprudence in only a nutshell: A finding of significant threat cannot be speculative: it must be based on evidence. It requires positive findings, supported by the evidence, that the threat that a person would engage in criminal conduct is a “real” threat, and that the harm this conduct would cause would be “serious”. Both findings are required: Neither a miniscule risk of grave harm, nor a high risk of trivial harm, is sufficient to find a real threat of serious harm.
At the hearing, Dr. Selhi described Mr. Kellar as having had a relatively stable year, and a much improved although variable working relationship with the team this past year. At the same time, she testified to ongoing significant concerns relating to the reoffence risk for him. Dr. Selhi's 'Summary of Risk and Conclusion', set out in the Hospital Report (pgs. 38-39), which focuses on the need for Mr. Kellar to transition to community living now and his readiness to do that, includes the statement that "Mr. Kellar remains a significant risk to the public within a highly structured setting", and the following observation:
"Mr. Kellar is a 40 year-old man whose mental health difficulties relate to personality pathology and a history of substance abuse problems; he no longer carries a psychotic disorder diagnosis. Since arriving at [Providence Care] in July 2021, his risk of violence has remained difficult to treat given his lack of insight, poor engagement, and reticence to most treatment modalities. …. "
A Psychological Risk Assessment Report of September 16, 2024, by clinical and forensic psychologist Dr. D. Douglas, of the results for Mr. Kellar on the HCR-20-v.3 and SAPROF risk measurement instruments, is summarized in detail in the Hospital Report. Dr. Douglas estimated that the longer-term risk of violent reoffence for him is moderate-to-high, and the shorter-term risk is low-to-low/moderate.
The evidence is that Mr. Kellar has diagnoses of a Personality Disorder with Cluster B traits along with Substance Use Disorders (including methamphetamine, opioid, and alcohol use, in remission while he has been detained in a forensic hospital under the Board's jurisdiction). In combination, these maladies seem repeatedly to have led to his becoming extremely paranoid, delusional, threatening, and lashing out defensively, including in serious physical aggression and other harmful criminal conduct, as in the tragic arson in his index offence (which also involved his threat with a gun) and in serious assault, weapons, and robbery offences in his past.
This past year, he has partly but not fully made progress that was needed and hoped for. He still showed a low level of insight into both his substance use disorders and his personality disorder traits. He lost his motivation and fell away from engaging in long-term therapy and other treatments for both, until very recently. He remains vulnerable to stressors and lacking in skills to cope well with them. In 2023 and in 2024, he acknowledged having pro-violence beliefs about physical aggression as a way to resolve perceived wrongs through revenge or retribution. In 2023, his veiled threats about his psychiatrist led to a change in his attending physician. In June 2024, his level of physical aggression (in response to a patient's assault on him) led to his being assessed as a high risk on the unit and placed in seclusion until the next day.
While under the Board's jurisdiction – and detained in the highly structured and secure forensic hospital setting, with close oversight and support from his treatment team and hospital staff – Mr. Kellar's violence has mostly been contained, he has abstained from alcohol and other substance use, and he has adhered to medication treatment (although not other treatment). He does not yet have an approved home in the community, and at this time has no reliable personal supports in the community, being estranged from family members and not yet having been able to make other close or meaningful relationships.
Based on all the evidence, we find there is a real risk at this time that, if he were not under the jurisdiction of the Board, Mr. Kellar would not be able to manage his risk on his own, and he would engage in seriously harmful criminal conduct against a member of the public, similar to that in his index offence and other past violent offences. To protect the safety of the public requires his oversight by the hospital under the Board’s jurisdiction for the year ahead.
On the second issue, of the disposition for the coming year, we again agree with the joint position of the parties, which is also well-supported by the evidence.
The hospital's anticipated plan for Mr. Kellar in this new reporting year is to begin the process of his transition to living in the community in approved housing. In Dr. Selhi's opinion on this point, in her 'Summary of Risk and Conclusion' in the Hospital Report (continuing from the quotation set out just above):
"Despite [these three risk factors] however, Mr. Kellar has shown relative stability on the unit over the reporting period to the extent that he has been recommended to live in the community. Thus, while Mr. Kellar remains a significant risk to the public within a highly structured setting, his engagement with forensic staff, abstinence from substance use, and ability to adhere to rules needs, to be established within an outpatient setting.
"This is especially the case given that Mr. Kellar has had difficulty meeting treatment expectations on the unit, and is unlikely to involve himself in many groups in the community. Moreover, in order to ensure swift re-hospitalization in the event of substance use, and approve his address in the community, no changes to his disposition (detention order) are recommended.
"It is anticipated that Mr. Kellar will be discharged to independent housing in early 2025 barring no significant events, and ideally fulfill the requirements necessary to satisfy the terms of his disposition through to the next reporting period.
Clearly, at this time a Detention Order continues to be the necessary and appropriate disposition. A Conditional Discharge would not adequately protect the safety of the public, and would not serve Mr. Kellar's own interests in effective treatment, rehabilitation, and an ultimately successful reintegration into community life. Given his increased risk for substance use when living independently in the community, and the likely rapidity of his resulting decompensation into serious paranoia, delusions, and reactive violence, the hospital requires the ability to return him quickly to the hospital.
With respect to his community home at this transition point, we accept Dr. Selhi's opinion and her reliance on the Step-by-Step program assessment, that Mr. Kellar is able to look after his daily and instrumental activities of life, and that – in that respect – independent housing in the community, approved by the hospital, is suitable for him.
At the same time, Dr. Selhi stressed that Mr. Kellar's risk of violence may increase in his transition to community living, and that the housing he lives in will be important. The foreseeable risk factors will include increased stressors and challenges to manage, easier access to alcohol and other intoxicating substances, and more distance and less frequency in his interactions with the hospital treatment team and staff, who are his main supports at this time.
The hospital will now be taking the steps to locate and approve housing for Mr. Kellar. An outpatient team is already in place for him: He has been connected with a Case Management Team since September 2024, with Ms. M. Bryant being his Case Manager. He will be reporting as requested by the hospital and at least once per week, and he will be monitored for substance use with urine drug screens, randomly, as requested and at least once per month.
Mr. Kellar's hospital Treatment and Case Management teams, and in particular Dr. Selhi and Ms. Bryant, are obviously well aware of his treatment, supervision, and risk management needs going forward, in the course of his planned transition to community living. They are the experts working together with Mr. Kellar, to support his positive engagement in recommended treatment, training, and activities in the community, and thus to protect the safety of the public along with his own wellbeing and personal progress.
We wish all the best to Mr. Kellar in the new year ahead, in his work with his treatment and case management team members and his other good supports to come in the community.
DATED this 21st day of March 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Ms. K.A. Connidis
Alternate Chairperson
Office of the Registrar
Ontario Review Board