Re: Shawn McDoom
ORB File No: 7496
Hearing held on: Monday, August 11, 2025
Place of hearing: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health 1001 Queen Street West, Toronto
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before: Alternate Chairperson: Ms. C. Finley Members: Dr. P.E. Cook Dr. A. Park Ms. J. Ferguson Ms. B. Little
Parties Appearing: Accused: Shawn McDoom Counsel: Ms. C.E. Currie
The person in charge of hospital: Counsel: Ms. M. Warner
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. V. Culp
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated September 18, 2025)
Introduction
1On February 11, 2019, Shawn McDoom was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (NCR) on charges of threatening death (x3), assault, assault with a weapon, criminal harassment and failing to comply with various orders, contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada. Mr. McDoom is currently subject to a Disposition of the Ontario Review Board (ORB/the Board), dated August 22, 2024, detaining him at the General Forensic Unit of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Care (CAMH/hospital), with discretionary privileges up to and including the ability to reside in approved supervised accommodation in the community.
2On August 11, 2025, the Board convened a panel to conduct the annual review of Mr. McDoom’s disposition pursuant to s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code. Mr. McDoom was present and represented by his counsel, Ms. Currie.
3At the outset of proceedings all parties were canvassed as to their positions on the issues to be determined by the Board: whether Mr. McDoom continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public; and if so, the necessary and appropriate disposition having regard to the criteria set out in s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code.
4Ms. Warner, on behalf of the hospital, submitted that Mr. McDoom continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public and the necessary and appropriate disposition is a continuation of the current detention order with the same terms and conditions. Ms. Culp, on behalf of the Ministry of the Attorney General, and Ms. Currie concurred in the hospital’s positions. Thus, a joint recommendation was put before the Board.
Findings
5For the reasons that follow, the Board finds that Mr. McDoom continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public and the necessary and appropriate disposition is a continuation of the current detention order.
The Evidence
6The evidence at the hearing consisted of the Hospital Report, dated July 21, 2025 (ex. 1), and the viva voce evidence of Dr. Robertson, Mr. McDoom’s treating psychiatrist.
Index Offences
7Mr. McDoom’s index offences all occurred between September 2017 and September 2018. The majority involved the same victim, Ms. Leslie Gomes, who Mr. McDoom has known since childhood. On September 15, 2017, Ms. Gomes was in her apartment when she heard glass breaking near her front door. She found Mr. McDoom standing outside her door with a broken bottle. He threatened to kill her. On July 24, 2018, Mr. McDoom jumped a fence and entered Ms. Gomes’ home through the back door. He confronted Ms. Gomes, her mother and her children and threatened to kill them. Three days later, he returned to the backyard where Ms. Gomes and her two-year old child were present. He screamed at them and threw a tricycle against the fence. On August 1, 2018, Mr. McDoom confronted Ms. Gomes when she pulled into her driveway. He yelled obscenities, threatened to kill her and pushed on the hood and door of her car. She called 911 and was able to run into her home. A short time later, Mr. McDoom again jumped the fence into her backyard, this time brandishing a pair of scissors. He threatened to kill Ms. Gomes and her mother.
8On June 25, 2018, Mr. McDoom confronted two TTC employees and made a hand gesture of a gun and pointed it at them. On June 30, 2018, he slapped the hat off a stranger at a gas station and then punched the stranger in the mouth.
Background Information
9The Hospital Report contains detailed information on Mr. McDoom’s personal background and psychiatric history and need not be reviewed in these Reasons beyond the following material facts.
10Mr. McDoom is a single 42-year-old man who was born and raised in Toronto. He has a long history of cannabis use commencing at the age of 14. He has a significant history, too, of alcohol abuse, beginning at the age of 16. He also has provided urine samples that have been positive for amphetamines and methamphetamines. He has not been engaged in treatment for his substance use and does not regard his use as problematic.
11Mr. McDoom has a criminal record1 that includes multiple convictions for assault, threatening behaviour, offences against property, and failing to comply with court orders.
12Mr. McDoom and his grandmother both reported that he first started to experience mental health issues around 2006 when he learned of the circumstances of his father’s murder. His grandmother noticed that her grandson’s mental health deteriorated significantly. Since then, he has experienced a long history of hospital admissions, including being brought to emergency departments by police. Invariably, these attendances in hospital were the result of psychiatric decompensation in the context of alcohol and/or cannabis use, and non-compliance with medication. Mr. McDoom often presented as threatening and aggressive, and responding to internal stimuli. On multiple occasions, it was determined that he did not meet the threshold for certification under the Mental Health Act. Mr. McDoom has not had a sustained period of compliance with psychiatric treatment even in the context of a Community Treatment Order.
13During periods of psychosis, Mr. McDoom experiences paranoia, impulsivity and has difficulty managing stress. He has reported that he thought ‘people were doing witchcraft’ and playing ‘mind games’, which he explained as people being able to read his thoughts. He believes that he can read other people’s minds. Mr. McDoom also identified that when he drinks and smokes substances, he hears voices which heighten his concern about witchcraft.
14In July of 2022, Mr. McDoom was discharged to a high support residence at LOFT. While residing there, he consistently exhibited behavioural dyscontrol and intimidating behaviour towards staff. He was readmitted to hospital on April 12, 2024. Once he returned to baseline and was behaviourally stable, he was discharged back to the LOFT residence. He was given clear notice that, should he resume his problematic behaviour, he would be evicted.
Course Since the Last Disposition
15Mr. McDoom’s current diagnoses are schizophrenia, substance use disorder (cannabis and alcohol) and antisocial traits vs. personality disorder. He is treated with the long acting injectable antipsychotic paliperidone palmitate (Invega Sustenna), at 150 mg every three weeks under substitute consent.
16Unfortunately, Mr. McDoom exhibited ongoing rule breaking and threatening and aggressive behaviours toward staff and co-residents. On November 28, 2024, Mr. McDoom was formally evicted. There being no other available appropriate housing, he was readmitted to CAMH.
17Since Mr. McDoom’s admission, the clinical team has determined that much of Mr. McDoom’s problematic behaviour stems not from his mental illness or substance use, but rather from antisocial tendencies in his personality. There had been no indication that he had been using illicit substances. The team initiated boundary setting and behavioural interventions with some success. Mr. McDoom was transferred to a general forensic unit in January 2025.
18In April 2025, resources were secured to include a behavioural analyst on Mr. McDoom’s treatment team. After achieving a good rapport with Mr. McDoom, the therapist developed a multifaceted plan that included clear and consistent boundaries while assisting Mr. McDoom in building coping skills. It is anticipated that in addressing Mr. McDoom’s problematic behaviours in this manner, he will be able to transition smoothly to supportive housing in the community when appropriate.
19Dr. Robertson testified before the Board. He presently is a PGY26 Fellow, practicing under the supervision of Dr. Chatterjee. He reported that the primary focus of Mr. McDoom’s treatment team is intensive behavioural therapy. Mr. McDoom has engaged well with the behavioural therapist and the early gains that he initially had achieved have been maintained.
20Dr. Robertson indicated that the next step that the team is looking toward is generalizing those coping skills that Mr. McDoom has begun to develop in order to prepare him for reintegration into the community within the next year. Mr. McDoom is currently exercising level 7 passes, allowing him passes in the community indirectly supervised for therapeutic purposes.
21Dr. Robertson testified that if Mr. McDoom can maintain the gains that he has made and begin to generalize coping skills and managing stress, the treatment team will consider a discharge to appropriate supportive housing in the community. The doctor believes that the search for housing could occur within a matter of months.
22Dr. Robertson indicated that Mr. McDoom has continued to be compliant with injections of his antipsychotic medication. His insight into his diagnosis and the need for ongoing treatment continues to be fair. There is potential that Mr. McDoom can develop further insight either through optimization medication or through programming. The team continues to encourage him to engage in programming, however, Mr. McDoom has consistently declined to engage in any substance use relapse programs. In the doctor’s view, Mr. McDoom’s insight, or lack thereof, is not a barrier to his reintegration into the community at this time.
23In response to questions from Ms. Curry, Dr. Robertson testified that Mr. McDoom appears to have some residual psychotic symptoms, notwithstanding compliance with medication. He is able to function reasonably well and, at least for the present, the team is using non-medication interventions to manage his behaviour. Mr. McDoom’s behaviour has improved in the structured environment of the hospital. There may be room for medication optimization.
24Once Mr. McDoom transitions to the community, there will be another behavioural therapist who will work with him. Strategies that have been identified as successful will be shared with that new therapist as well as the outpatient team and staff at the residence.
25Mr. McDoom continues to enjoy support from his family, in particular his grandmother, mother and brother.
26All parties maintained the joint submission.
Analysis and Conclusion
27Having heard and considered all of the evidence adduced and the joint submission of the parties, the Board unanimously accepts the evidence of Dr. Robertson and the Hospital Report and finds that Mr. McDoom continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public, as defined by the Supreme Court of Canada in Winko v. British Columbia (Forensic Psychiatric Institute), 1999 CanLII 694 (SCC), [1999] 2 S.C.R. 625.
28Mr. McDoom has a major mental illness, schizophrenia. He also has a long history of medication noncompliance and substance use, both of which exacerbate his psychotic symptoms. Absent ORB oversight, there is a real risk that Mr. McDoom will become nonadherent with his medications and other elements of his treatment plan. When Mr. McDoom is noncompliant with treatment he decompensates and experiences acute symptoms of his psychosis. He can become aggressive, threatening and violent, as demonstrated in the index offences as well as his more recent behaviour while residing at LOFT. As such, he continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public.
29Having found that the threshold for significant threat has been met, the Board must also determine the necessary and appropriate disposition taking into consideration the criteria set out in s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code. Transitioning to a new residence in the community can be stressful. While Mr. McDoom has not engaged in substance use while in hospital, given his lack of insight and lack of engagement in substance relapse prevention programming, his risk for relapse in the community is high. His abstinence currently is externally motivated by his disposition.
30Further, Mr. McDoom requires significant support and supervision in the community. Mr. McDoom has made significant strides over the last 8 months. Sessions with a behavioral therapist will continue in the community in order to ensure that those gains are maintained. The therapist will work with the forensic outpatient team as well as staff at the proposed residence, to assist Mr. McDoom in regulating his behaviour and, critically, to manage stress. As such the hospital requires the ability to approve Mr. McDoom’s accommodation.
31In addition to the ability to approve Mr. McDoom’s accommodation, the treatment team requires the ability to bring Mr. McDoom back to the hospital expeditiously should his mental status deteriorate. He would not seek help were he to decompensate, nor would he willingly return to hospital if it is requested. Historically the Mental Health Act has not been sufficient to admit Mr. McDoom to hospital. As a result, the Board agrees with the joint submission and is of the unanimous view that the necessary and appropriate disposition is a continuation of the current detention order.
32Accordingly, the Board finds that the necessary and appropriate disposition is a detention order with the same terms and conditions. In arriving at this conclusion, the panel has considered the paramount factor of the safety of the public, Mr. McDoom’s community reintegration, his mental condition, and his other needs as required by s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code.
DATED this 18th day of September, 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Region of Toronto.
Ms. C. Finley Alternate Chairperson
__________________ Office of the Registrar Ontario Review Board