Re Wynter, 2025 CanLII 81159

Re: Shawn C. Wynter

ORB File No: 8004/8079

Hearing held on: Friday, June 13, 2025

Place of hearing: Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care

Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code

Before:

Alternate Chairperson: Mr. P. Capelle

Members: Dr. K. Hand Dr. M. Kalia Ms. M. Chamberlain Ms. B. Little

Parties Appearing:

Accused: Shawn C. Wynter Counsel: Ms. C.E. Currie

The person in charge of hospital: Representative: Ms. T. Murdock

Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. J. Armenise

FRESH REASONS FOR DISPOSITION

(Dated August 14, 2025)

1On January 5, 2022, Shawn Whynter, who was 37 years old at the time of the hearing, was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (‘NCR’) in relation to one charge of criminal harassment and one charge of committing an indecent act contrary to the provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada. Then, on April 14, 2022, Mr. Wynter was found NCR on a further charge of committing an indecent act and a charge of assault causing bodily harm.

2Mr. Wynter is subject to a disposition of the Ontario Review Board (the “Board”) dated July 19, 2024, which orders that he be detained at the High Secure Provincial Forensic Programs of the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health (“Waypoint” or the “Hospital”), with hospital and grounds privileges, beyond the secure perimeter, escorted by staff.

3On Friday, June 13, 2025, the Ontario Review Board convened a hearing at Waypoint pursuant to s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code. Mr. Wynter was in attendance and was represented by his counsel, Ms. C. Currie.

Position of the Parties

4Ms. Murdock, on behalf of the hospital, submitted that Mr. Wynter remained a significant threat to the safety of the public and that the most appropriate disposition would be a continuation of his Detention Disposition together with transfer to St. Joseph’s Mental Health Centre Hamilton (“St. Joe’s”) with privileges and conditions as set out at pages 80 and 81 of the Hospital Report. Residual authority to Waypoint until the transfer occurs.

5Ms. Armenise on behalf of the Crown and Ms. Currie on behalf of Mr. Wynter joined with the Hospital position. Ms. Currie stated that her client was conceding the issue of significant threat

Index Offences:

6The circumstances of the index offences are taken from the most recent Reasons for Disposition, as follows:

“Index Offence 1 – June 1, 2021 – Indecent Act

On Tuesday, June 1, 2021, at approximately 1:50 p.m., at apartment [number] at [downtown Toronto street address] in the City of Toronto, police received a radio call for an Exposure Just.

The complainant’s [elementary school aged] daughter alerted her father, advising that she had heard what sounded like a small knock at the front door; then the doorknob jingling. She looked out of the peephole and did not recognize the person in front of the front door of her apartment. She went to the complainant and told him there was a stranger at the front door.

The complainant went to the front door and proceeded to look through the peephole. He saw the accused, standing in front of his door, in the act of masturbation. The complainant described the accused standing there without his shirt on, his pants along with his underwear below his waist, with his penis in his hand, stroking his penis back and forth in front of their apartment front door.

The complainant called 9-1-1 to alert them as to what he had just witnessed; when he looked out the peephole, the accused was still standing there in the act, The complainant yelled through the door to the accused, “Get out of here”. The accused then mumbled something in response, pulled up his underwear and walked down the hallway towards the south entrance.

After approximately 10 minutes, the complainant thought the accused had left down the stairwell towards the ground level, Wellington Street West near Strachan Avenue; the complainant opened his front door and observed the accused walking towards him, as well as the elevators, fully clothed at this point.

The complainant notified the property manager along with the condo board president, who located the accused on the third floor and escorted him off the premise.

Police arrived on scene shortly afterward and took statements from the witnesses on scene. While police were on scene, the accused walked back towards the building; the complainant recognized him and called police to advise of his whereabouts.

The accused was arrested by police, read his Rights to Counsel, and transported to 14 Division Toronto Police Service.

Index Offence 2 – June 15, 2021 – Assault Cause Bodily Harm

On Tuesday, June 15, 2021, at approximately 1955 hours, the accused was in the Emergency Department seclusion room of the Centre of Addiction and Mental Health

(CAMH) on 1050 Queen Street West, Toronto. The victim [female staff member’s name], and three other staff members, two nurses and one student, attended the seclusion room in order to conduct a risk assessment of the accused, Shawn Wynter, in order to determine suitability for transfer to an inpatient unit.

Mr. Wynter became agitated when they attempted to take vital signs, at which point staff attempted to disengage and exit the room. Without provocation, Mr. Wynter leapt from the hospital bed and struck the female victim in the head with his fist that caused her glasses to break and the impact caused her to fall to the ground, where she briefly loses consciousness. Mr. Wynter continued to violently struggle with staff before being subdued and sedated.

Index Offence 3 – June 28, 2021 – Criminal Harassment Indecent Act

On Monday, June 28, 2021, at approximately 12:00 p.m., the victim was walking her dog along [street name] in the City of Toronto. The victim observed the accused at the end of the road, and heard him yell, “Hey, hey,” as he was walking slowly towards her.

The victim noticed the accused was not wearing a shirt, and his hand was inside the waist of his pants. The victim started walking and then running to her house scared, as the accused appeared to be touching himself. The accused picked up his pace and walked faster and closer, following the victim (Charge 1).

The victim was already located near her home and managed to get safely inside her home and lock her front door. The victim looked through the glass portion of her door and saw the accused standing on her porch, exposing his bare penis while stroking it with his hand, up and down on it (Charge 2). The accused again yelled, “Hey, hey, hey,” and the victim advised him that she is not opening the door.

The accused ended up walking away while still exposing his bare penis, while stroking it up and down with his hand. The victim got her cell phone and recorded the accused in the act of masturbation.

The victim contacted the police, and the accused was located in a nearby neighbourhood and further arrested by the attending officers. The victim provided the police with the video she captured as evidence.”

Current Psychiatric Diagnoses:

• Schizophrenia
• Amphetamine Use Disorder, Moderate, in sustained remission in a controlled environment
• Cannabis Use Disorder, Moderate, in sustained remission in a controlled environment
• Gambling Disorder

Evidence at Hearing:

7The evidence at the hearing consisted of the Hospital Report dated May 23, 2025, the Psychological Risk Assessment Report dated June 2, 2025, a Rule 13 Response from St. Joes’s dated June 6, 2025 as well as the viva voce testimony of Dr. Bouskill.

8Mr. Wynter’s progress since his last annual review is summarized in the Hospital Report dated May 23, 2025 as follows:

“Mr. Wynter had been without overt symptoms of psychosis for two years however experienced a recurrence of auditory hallucinations in November 2024, in the context of stress related to his gambling addiction. He endorsed auditory hallucinations of unknown voices putting him down and telling him he will never succeed. Quetiapine and olanzapine were increased to their current dose and his reported symptoms resolved.

It appears escalating behaviours related to money lending and gambling occurred following a period of prolonged disengagement and return of autonomy. Rapid identification and intervention on the part of the treating team appear to have provided opportunity to explicitly link Mr. Wynter’s behaviour to consequences, resulting in improved insight and engagement on his part. During her testimony provided during last year’s ORB hearing, Dr. Muraven outlined factors required to support consideration of indirectly supervised privileges, which has served as a helpful reference in considering Mr. Wynter’s overall progress this reporting year.

• Express insight into the risk associated with his gambling and money-lending activities and what they suggest relative to his ongoing struggles with addictions

• An ability from Mr. Wynter to understand the vulnerabilities of others

• An ability to follow the rules at the hospital regarding money lending

• An openness on Mr. Wynter’s part to discuss the issue with staff

• Re-engagement by Mr. Wynter with his addictions counsellor

• A period of good observation and monitoring that shows an absence of gambling, money lending and debt collection activities.

To date, Mr. Wynter has achieved some, but not all of these requirements. He has demonstrated an ability to follow hospital rules, has re-engaged with his addiction’s counsellor and has not engaged in gambling, money lending, or debt collection activities for the past six months.

Mr. Wynter has re-engaged with his treatment team and has been an active participant in programs since November 2024. He has maintained some level of indirectly supervised privileges since then and has maintained a level C5, the highest level achievable within the program, since February 2025. He has shown a commitment to vocational pursuits and has proven himself a reliable worker, recently being granted permission to transfer to a new department (Copy Shop) with increased work hours (five days per week). There have been no instances of physical violence or indications for seclusion throughout this reporting year. Verified concerns regarding verbal threats to others last occurred in October of 2024. “

9Ms. Murdock called Dr. Bouskill to give evidence on behalf of the hospital. The doctor confirmed that she had read the report and agreed with its contents and recommendation.

10Dr. Bouskill stated that since the Report was authored, Mr. Wynter had completed some groups that he was engaged in. He had attended all sessions and participated in both anger management and SMART recovery programs. He had also taken on the role of Ward worker for his unit.

11The doctor noted that Mr. Wynter still minimally experiences auditory hallucinations. He continues to hold strong beliefs that he receives messages from God but he has not received messages from demons.

12For much of the previous reporting period, Mr. Wynter’s security was capped at the C2 level. In the fall of 2024, He increased his engagement with staff on the unit and began participating in recreational activities and has had no issues with interactions with co-patients. He had also re-established substance use counselling. Therefore, in October, his security level was increased and Mr. Wynter was allowed to leave the unit.

13Unfortunately, in November, Mr. Wynter engaged in gambling with co-patients and had his security levels put on hold. He was hearing more voices and asked for medication to be increased to deal with this.

14Mr. Wynter’s inability to control his gambling impulses was discussed with his doctor and he began to realize that these behaviours were an issue for him. Dr. Bouskill felt that he currently had partial insight into this as he does not see himself as having a gambling addiction but thinks that it is just an issue with Poker.

15Mr. Wynter’s security level was increased to level C5 in February and has remained at this level to the time of the hearing. This is the highest level available to Mr. Wynter at Waypoint.

16Dr. Bouskill agreed with Dr. Grimes’ opinion at page 14 of their Risk Assessment that Mr. Wynter has a diagnosis of anti-social personality disorder. This diagnosis does not affect the doctor’s belief that he could transfer successfully to St. Joeseph’s Hamilton. Mr. Wynter has had six months of stability, despite experiencing breakthrough symptoms. He has not engaged in any violent behavior and has not required seclusion.

17Dr. Bouskill noted that Mr. Wynter’s primary risk from a psychotic perspective was from non compliance and substance use. Mr. Wynter has acknowledged that in the community he is not sure that he would be able to abstain from substance use. He says that his current lack of substance use is God’s will and he, therefore, does not see the need for him to have internal motivation to abstain.

18Crown counsel noted that the Board had denied transferring Mr. Wynter to St. Joe’s the previous year. Dr. Bouskill acknowledged this but stated that he had had a better year this past reporting period. She agreed that there was a possibility that Mr. Wynter would engage in gambling if transferred to a medium secure facility but stated that that was the reason that the Hospital was recommending no indirect supervision privileges at this time.

19Mr. Wynter is aware that he would not have the independence at St. Joe’s that he currently has at Waypoint but he still wanted to transfer to the Hamilton Hospital as it is closer to his family. He has a sister that lives in Etobicoke, who is planning to move to Hamilton. In addition, Mr. Wynter wants to engage in activities in the community even if supervised and he can not do that at Waypoint.

20Dr. Bouskill noted that Mr. Wynter’s insight remains problematic and that substance use is still an issue for him. Mr. Wynter has been clear and consistent, however, that while under the supervision of the ORB, he will take any medication that is prescribed and will comply with the terms and conditions of his Disposition.

21In response to questions from Ms. Currie, Dr. Bouskill stated the following:

1. Many people have to deal with hearing voices. There are groups to help people learn to live with this. Mr. Wynter will likely be someone that will always hear voices and will need to learn to deal with this. This is why the Hospital has recommended CBT-P.
2. Mr. Wynter is an intelligent person and boredom is a factor for him. As a Ward Worker, Mr. Wynter has lots of responsibilities. He has also kept himself busy by working in the copy shop.
3. Dr. Bouskill did not think that Mr. Wynter’s gambling was a result of boredom.
4. Mr. Wynter is very motivated to transfer to St. Joe’s and this motivation will hopefully help him maintain his current positive trajectory.

22In response to questioning from the Board the doctor stated that Mr. Wynter is already following most of the recommendations contained in the Risk Assessment. All of the programs recommended in the Risk Assessment are available at St. Joe’s.

Final Submissions:

23At the conclusion of the hearing the parties were asked for their closing submissions. Ms. Murdock stated that the Hospital maintained its initial position. Mr. Wynter remains a significant threat to the safety of the public but could be managed at St. Joe’s. She noted that the Hamilton Hospital was not opposed to the transfer. She stated that he had had a better year than the last reporting period and is therefore ready for a transfer to a less secure facility.

24Ms. Armenise agreed that Mr. Wynter had had a good year and had made a lot of positive changes. She supported the transfer to St. Joe’s. Counsel for Mr. Wynter stated that his client would be very motivated in the coming year if he was on the waitlist for St. Joe’s. It would mean a lot to Mr. Wynter for the Board to agree to the transfer request.

Findings of the Board:

25The Board unanimously finds that Mr. Wynter continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public. In arriving at this determination, the Board considered the joint position of the parties and accepted the uncontroverted evidence of Dr. Bouskill. The Board also relies on the Risk Assessment, which notes the following:

“Based on all available information, Mr. Wynter’s risk for violent reoffending is considered low in a high secure environment. His risk for violent reoffending in a secure environment is moderate. Should he become non-adherent to medication, re-engage in gambling or money lending, resume substance abuse, and/or become unwilling to follow risk management plans, his risk of reoffending would increase.”

26The Board, therefore, accepts that absent an ORB Disposition, Mr. Wynter would likely become non-compliant with prescribed medications which would lead to decompensation, use of substances and the re-emergence of behaviours similar to those seen at the time of the index offences.

27The Board agrees with the parties that the risk posed by Mr. Wynter can be managed at a medium secure hospital. All of the recommended programs and therapy suggested in the recent Risk Assessment are available at St. Joe’s and that hospital is willing to accept Mr. Wynter. The Board finds that a transfer to a medium secure hospital is the appropriate next step for Mr. Wynter. Therefore, the Board unanimously determines that the disposition that is necessary and appropriate in the circumstances, consistent with public safety, is for Mr. Wynter to be detained on the Forensic Programs, at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton with the following privileges and conditions:

1. To attend within or outside of the hospital for necessary medical, dental, legal or compassionate purposes;
2. Hospital and grounds privileges escorted or accompanied by staff;
3. To enter the catchment area of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton accompanied by staff;
4. To abstain absolutely from the non-medical use of alcohol or drugs or any other intoxicant;
5. To submit samples of his urine and/or breath to the person in charge of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton or his or her designate for the purpose of analyzing whether the accused has ingested alcohol, drugs or any other intoxicant; and
6. To refrain from having in his possession any firearm, ammunition or other offensive weapon, or being in the company of any person possessing a firearm other than a peace officer.

28In making this Disposition, the Board carefully considered the positions and submissions of the parties and the evidence of Dr. Bouskill and is satisfied that this determination is both necessary and appropriate. The Board reviewed the provisions of s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code and carefully considered the need to protect the public from dangerous persons, Mr. Wynter’s mental condition, his reintegration into society and other needs. Mr. Wynter’s is to be commended for his behaviour over the past year, including his engagement with programs, especially addictions counselling. The Board wishes him well in the coming year.