Ontario Review Board
Re: Gilles Mushitsi
ORB File No: 8197
Hearing held on: Thursday, January 8, 2026
Place of Hearing: Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Ms. M. Labrosse
Members: Dr. S. Lessard
Dr. G. Boulais
David D’Intino
Ms. K. Brisson
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Gilles Mushitsi
Counsel: Ms. F. Beaubien
Person in charge of Hospital: Representative: Dr. M. Strike
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. M. Dufort
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated February 23, 2026)
Introduction
On December 12, 2022, Gilles Mushitsi appeared in court on charges of indecent act (x2) sexual assault, invitation to sexual touching and mischief to property, offences contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada.
Mr. Mushitsi is currently subject to a disposition of the Ontario Review Board dated January 21, 2025, which detains him at the Secure Forensic Rehabilitation Unit of the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre on terms and conditions, including permission to live in the community of Eastern Ontario in accommodation approved by the person in charge.
On January 8, 2026, the Ontario Review Board (“ORB”) convened a hearing at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, hereinafter referred to as the hospital, to review Mr. Mushitsi’s disposition pursuant to s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada. Mr. Mushitsi attended his hearing and was represented by counsel, Ms. Florence Beaubien. A hospital report, dated December 14, 2025, was entered as Exhibit 1 for the hearing.
The issues for this hearing are whether Mr. Mushitsi continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public, and if so, to determine the necessary and appropriate disposition for the coming year.
At the outset, the parties were canvassed as to their preliminary without prejudice positions for the hearing at which time the Board was presented with a joint position that Mr. Mushitsi continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public and that a detention order with permission to reside in the community in approved accommodation in the community of Eastern Ontario in approved accommodation remains the necessary and appropriate disposition at this time. At the conclusion of the hearing, the parties maintained their original position subject to a few minor wording changes to some of the conditions of the disposition.
For the reasons set out below, the Board finds that Mr. Mushitsi continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public and that the maintenance of a detention order with community living in approved accommodation remains the necessary and appropriate and least onerous and least restrictive Disposition. The Board also agreed to the requested minor wording changes that shall be set out in the Analysis and Conclusion section of these reasons.
Index Offences
- The circumstances are set out in the hospital report as follows:
“May 10, 2022:
Mr. Mushitsi was at the food court at the St. Laurent Shopping Centre in Ottawa. A security guard found him yelling and causing a scene. When Mr. Mushitsi was told to stop yelling, he did not acknowledge this but charged at the security guard. Mr. Mushitsi punched the victim multiple times in the arm and once in the right side of his face. Ottawa Police attended and arrested Mr. Mushitsi. He was later released on an undertaking.
June 17, 2022:
Ottawa Police officers responded to a call about a sexual assault at D[…] Street. The first victim stated she had left her apartment and was headed to the elevator. Two males were in the hall at the elevator. One was her neighbour; the other was Mr. Mushitsi. As she walked past him, Mr. Mushitsi slapped her right buttock.
The second victim stated she was working as the assistant manager and cleaning the building’s lobby. On that same day, she was approached and sexually assaulted by Mr. Mushitsi. This was captured on CCTV footage. The victim had been standing on a chair when Mr. Mushitsi came up from behind and grabbed her buttocks.
The property manager at Mr. Mushitsi’s apartment building told police she had been getting similar complaints about Mr. Mushitsi from other female tenants in the past week.
About an hour later, Ottawa Police officers were sent to the OC Transpo bus station at Albert and Booth Street responding to a complaint of an indecent act in progress. They found Mr. Mushitsi sitting inside the glassed in bus stop. Three witnesses described seeing Mr. Mushitsi exposing himself, removing his penis from his shorts and masturbating while focusing his attention on a female within the bus shelter.
The female victim stated Mr. Mushitsi had followed her and was staring at her. He pulled down his shorts and exposed his penis. He masturbated to the point where she saw him ejaculate.
A second victim reported she was sitting in the bus shelter when Mr. Mushitsi came in and sat next to her. He began to stroke her leg. When she looked over to tell him to stop, she saw him rubbing his crotch with his other hand as he stroked her leg. The incident was captured on OC Transpo video. Further video, from June 17, 2022, showed Mr. Mushitsi masturbating while riding on the O-Train.
A male witness to the bus stop incident described Mr. Mushitsi as “either on drugs or feeble minded” due to his countenance and behaviour.
On June 24, 2022, Mr. Mushitsi was released on conditions, this time requiring that he reside at the Ottawa Mission.
June 27, 2022:
In the early evening hours, Ottawa Police officers were called about a male who was walking around with his pants down, approaching children aged 10 to 15. A witness at the Overbrook Community Centre identified Mr. Mushitsi standing outside. She reported a lifeguard had run in from the pool area looking for a place of safety as there was a male outside with his pants down. This same male had followed the lifeguard into the community centre and refused to leave when directed. He walked in with his pants down around his ankles and was holding his genitals through his long shirt.
He had also approached a group of children who fled in fear. One child, age 13, reported that the man had approached the group of children. He asked them if they wanted to see him naked. He also said, “Who wants to help me pull up my pants?”
Officers found Mr. Mushitsi walking away nearby. His black pants were down around his ankles with a long shirt covering his genital area.
In Mr. Mushitsi’s later version of the facts, he reported he had stopped taking his medication. He recalled that in June 2022, he was drinking lots of coffee, smoking a lot of cigarettes and cannabis. He was sleeping poorly and would often be up and about at night. He was masturbating excessively and watching porn. He reported hearing voices telling him not to sleep and that the devil will kill him.
Family members described Mr. Mushitsi’s mental health deterioration for the eight to twelve months leading up to the index offences. He was not taking his medication. Symptoms included talking to himself, insomnia, tangential thoughts and speech, aggression, irritability and other concerning symptoms including lack of personal hygiene, delusions and bizarre behaviour. He would become particularly agitated and aggressive when he was out of cannabis or cigarettes.
Family members also reported that in the same period, Mr. Mushitsi was having numerous conflicts with his mother, resulting in four or five calls to the police. On more than one occasion he shoved her and stole her money. Mr. Mushitsi was having frequent conflicts with people and would talk about harming others. He did not grasp the gravity of his actions”.
Current Psychiatric Diagnoses
Schizophrenia, Treatment Resistant, in partial remission.
Cannabis Use Disorder in early remission, in a controlled environment.
Background History
Mr. Mushitsi’s personal, legal and psychiatric history are set out in detail in the hospital report. Briefly summarized, Mr. Mushitsi is 43 years of age and immigrated to Canada in and around 2003 from Tunisia, though his family originates from Burundi and the Ivory Coast. During recent years when not hospitalized, he lived with his three brothers. Their mother spent time living in both the Ottawa-Gatineau region and in Ivory Coast, Africa.
Mr. Mushitsi did not complete educational pursuits, nor has been able to hold down a job for any significant period. He enrolled at La Cité Collégiale several times but never stayed in any program for very long.
Psychiatric History
Mr. Mushitsi first saw a psychiatrist in early 2002 when he was living in Tunisia with his father. Symptoms included bizarre behaviour, thought disorder, delusions and hallucinations. He was admitted to a Tunisian psychiatric hospital twice in the first part of 2003. After immigrating to Canada, he was treated at the Pierre Janet hospital in Gatineau and referred to Dr. Alain Labelle, a Schizophrenia specialist.
Mr. Mushitsi has previously been under the jurisdiction of the ORB. The first set of index offences arose in August 2003, within three days of his arrival in Canada with his family. At the time, he was on medication and was scheduled to see a psychiatrist a few days later. He was then seen regularly seen at the Schizophrenia outpatient clinic of the ROMHC.
In 2004, soon after the NCR verdict, the family thought it best for him to rejoin his father. He went to Kenya. Once there, he required hospitalization and was treated by a psychiatrist in Nairobi. In 2005, Mr. Mushitsi returned to Canada and enrolled in school, while living with his mother and siblings in Orleans, near Ottawa.
From 2005 to 2008 Mr. Mushitsi was on a conditional discharge under the ORB. In 2008, concerns arose about his lack of compliance with medication, and he was admitted to hospital. Intramuscular injectable medication was started. From 2008 to 2010, Mr. Mushitsi was stable on injectable medication. However, by the end of 2010, he was more reluctant to comply with injections.
In December 2010, after experiencing a significant decompensation, he was hospitalized.
From 2011 to 2013, Mr. Mushitsi was relatively stable. In the summer 2013, he was hospitalized for six weeks after having again stopped medication. Once back on injectable medication, he travelled to Tunisia. Once more, there was some decompensation, arising in July 2014.
In early 2015, Mr. Mushitsi travelled to the Ivory Coast for two months. He did well and found employment with an insurance company, while maintaining mental health stability.
Evidence at the Hearing
The hospital’s evidence was presented through its report and through the oral testimony of Dr. M. Strike, Mr. Mushitsi’s attending psychiatrist at the hospital. This evidence is summarized as follows.
Mr. Mushitsi has been residing at the Whymering Residence to which he was discharged on January 21, 2025. Mr. Mushitsi has not had any admissions to hospital since his discharge, nor has he had any involvement with police services.
Mr. Mushitsi has been working with a Forensic Case Manager, Mr. Steve Su, and has participated in occupational therapy, recreational therapy and addictions counselling at the hospital.
With respect to his current accommodation, Mr. Mushitsi is not satisfied and has expressed a desire to live independently or semi-independently. To this end, the hospital is considering his participation in the Grove transitional rehabilitation housing program though there are still questions about Mr. Mushitsi’s suitability for this program. Mr. Mushitsi has great difficulty remaining focused on short term goals and tends to abruptly change his plans. He will state from time to time that he does not wish to participate in any programming and wishes to move back to Ivory Coast.
Mr. Mushitsi’s illness remains resistant to treatment, and he experiences residual symptoms. Mr. Mushitsi also has difficulties with executive functioning including memory and organization. He has issues remaining focused in group therapy and has difficulty regulating his emotions and not acting impulsively during these sessions.
Mr. Mushitsi has expressed a desire to work with the treatment team and has spent some trial time at the Grove Transitional Residence. He recently used cannabis which would render him unsuitable for the Grove Program. The hospital is emphasizing the necessity for him to be completely abstinent if he wishes to be formally accepted at Grove.
Mr. Mushitsi successfully travelled to Africa in the past year, to attend his mother’s funeral, accompanied by family. The trip went relatively well though he did report having consumed beer while in family gatherings. A comprehensive itinerary was developed by Dr. Strike and the treatment team, and it worked out relatively well. Mr. Mushitsi has also expressed a desire to return to Africa in March for the anniversary of his mother’s death where there will be a celebration of life.
According to Dr. Strike, substances have very clear negative effects on Mr. Mushitsi’s mental health and can lead to aggressive behaviour and sexual preoccupation. Though Mr. Mushitsi has had fluctuations in his mental condition over the course of the past year, Dr. Strike confirmed that there have been no violent or sexually inappropriate incidents.
The hospital is recommending an amendment to Condition 4(c) of the disposition which prohibits Mr. Mushitsi from attending anywhere where cannabis or alcohol is dispensed or sold for a fee. Given that alcohol is wildly available in grocery stores and corner stores, Dr. Strike believes that this condition is overly restrictive and that the word “alcohol” should be removed. Mr. Mushitsi should continue to be prohibited from attending anywhere where cannabis is dispensed or sold but with the removal of the word “alcohol”, Dr. Strike believes that the risk can still be contained.
Mr. Mushitsi has expressed a desire to be able to use cannabis products containing CBD which he believes is helpful for his knee pain. Dr. Strike is not opposed to that and as was discussed during the hearing, this will require an amendment to condition 4(a) of the disposition which currently requires him to abstain absolutely from any use of cannabis. It was agreed that this condition should be amended as follows: “Abstain absolutely from any use of cannabis in any form with THC, with the exception of CBD products that have zero percent THC and abstain from alcohol or non-prescribed drugs or any other intoxicants.
In response to questions posed to her by counsel for the Attorney General, Ms. Dufort, Dr. Strike responded as follows:
a. Mr. Mushitsi has previously had difficulty participating in CBT impulse control groups. The hospital is planning to reintroduce these groups as they are particularly important for Mr. Mushitsi. The hospital plans to do so once Mr. Mushitsi is settled at the Grove Residence.
b. Dr. Strike stated that it is not clear whether the Grove Residence will work for Mr. Mushitsi, but that the treatment team wants to support him in his objective of semi-independent or independent living. This will require decisions to be made in the short term as Whymering Residence will insist on knowing whether Mr. Mushitsi’s bed must be held for him.
c. Dr. Strike acknowledged that Mr. Mushitsi had difficulties with his participation in the Bakeology Program and that he was noted to be taking many breaks.
d. Dr. Strike explained that rather than resorting to prn medication, the treatment team has recently added a lunch time dose of Seroquel to Mr. Mushitsi’s medication regime and that this seems to work better for him.
e. Mr. Mushitsi is compliant with his Clozapine regimen and there have been no issues in this respect.
f. The treatment team is attempting to secure a hearing aid for Mr. Mushitsi who apparently has hearing issues in one ear.
- In response to questions posed by Ms. Beaubien, counsel for Mr. Mushitsi, Dr. Strike responded as follows:
a. The trip to Africa last year went generally well. The family was quite communicative with the treatment team in the first week as there were concerns regarding the sedative effect of medication as Mr. Mushitsi was sleeping quite a lot. The treatment team reassured the family that it was more so probably the effects of the trip that were causing Mr. Mushitsi to sleep more and eventually this did seem to be resolved. The treatment team was not informed by the family that Mr. Mushitsi had been consuming beer, and it has been explained to them that it is very important for him not to consume.
b. Dr. Strike stated that given Mr. Mushitsi’s treatment-resistant schizophrenia and ongoing residual symptoms, it is important that he remain completely abstinent from cannabis and alcohol, but that in the future, moderate consumption of alcohol could be reviewed. Dr. Strike believes that Mr. Mushitsi must completely abstain from cannabis products with THC as this has a clear impact on his mental condition.
c. Dr. Strike acknowledged that the hospital is considering Mr. Mushitsi’s request to travel once again to Africa, but this is not guaranteed and would require his compliance with medication and his disposition. At this time, the hospital would likely support it.
d. With respect to residual symptoms, Dr. Strike believes that they could be further treated with an increase in medication and with non-pharmacological interventions such as CBT.
e. With respect to 1:1 therapy, the wait list is long, but a request could be made if Mr. Mushitsi was serious about engaging. Mr. Mushitsi tends to change his mind frequently about what he is prepared to do.
f. With respect to the transition to Grove, the hospital believes that this could be beneficial for Mr. Mushitsi given that he is currently bored at the Whymering Residence where there is a lack of social interaction as well as the absence of professional supports for him to consult which he tends to do a lot at the hospital as well as spending time there for social interactions. Grove would provide him with a more social environment and there would be supports in place for him in-house to help him work on his goals. In order to progress further, Dr. Strike noted that the hospital would need to see full compliance with treatment, compliance with medication, respect the conditions of the Disposition and following through with group programming.
- In response to questions posed to her by members of the panel, Dr. Strike testified as follows:
a. Dr. Strike and the treatment team do not believe that Mr. Mushitsi has a paraphilia as his inappropriate sexual behaviours are believed to be linked to the decompensation of his schizophrenia. Dr. Strike acknowledged that it is important for this to be continued to be monitored at all times.
b. Dr. Strike believes that an increase in the dose of Clozapine between 700 and 800mgs could possibly assist in addressing the residual symptoms of his schizophrenia; however, Mr. Mushitsi is tolerating his current dose at 500 mg but experiencing some fatigue and dizziness.
c. Mr. Mushitsi’s attitude towards group therapy fluctuates from one day to the next. Though he is generally positive, he has difficulty regulating emotions and tolerating stress and tends to look for immediate gratifications to relieve him in those situations. Mr. Mushitsi’s impulsivity comes and goes as does his insight.
d. Dr. Strike acknowledged that it is difficult for the hospital to monitor the condition 4(d) of the Disposition which prohibits Mr. Mushitsi from being in environments where people are consuming drugs and alcohol.
- The hospital risk assessment is set out at pages 37 and 38 of the hospital report and the reoffence scenario is summarized as follows:
“Mr. Mushitsi’s violence risk scenario is physical assault to indiscriminate targets in his vicinity (which may include family members or unknown individuals) or sexual aggression (nonconsensual sexual touching or masturbating in public, which may target women or children) driven by an acute decompensation of his schizophrenia. Such a decompensation could result increased psychosocial stress, using substances (including cannabis or alcohol), or from a missed dose (or more) of medication.”
- No other evidence was presented.
Analysis and Conclusion
Having considered all of the evidence tendered at the hearing, and the joint submission of the parties, the Board does find that Mr. Mushitsi continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public as defined in s. 672.5401 of the Criminal Code of Canada and as further defined in the Supreme Court of Canada decision Winko v. British Columbia (Forensic Psychiatric Institute), 1999 CanLII 694 (SCC), [1999] 2 S.C.R. 625.
According to R. v. Winko, a significant threat to the safety of the public means a real risk of physical or psychological harm to members of the public that is serious in the sense of going beyond the merely trivial or annoying. The conduct giving rise to the harm must be criminal in nature.
Our finding that Mr. Mushitsi continues to meet the threshold of significant threat to the safety of the public rests on the uncontroverted evidence of the hospital that Mr. Mushitsi continues to present with treatment-resistant schizophrenia and an ongoing substance use disorder, primarily cannabis and alcohol, both of which have been known to exacerbate the psychotic symptoms of his illness. Mr. Mushitsi has offended criminally in the context of psychotic decompensation, and this is his second time as an NCR accused under the purview of the ORB.
Mr. Mushitsi continues to require extensive oversight and supports in the community. He would like to move to independent or semi-independent living, and to this end, the hospital is attempting to assist him in achieving this goal by helping him secure a place in one of its transitional group homes. It will be critical for Mr. Mushitsi to be totally abstinent from substances to be deemed suitable for such a placement.
We recognize that Mr. Mushitsi has had an overall good year in the community. He has been cooperative and compliant with treatment and was able to successfully travel to Africa in the last year, alas to attend his mother’s funeral. There could be another such trip in the coming year, if Mr. Mushitsi is deemed suitable for further international travel. There have been no instances of aggression, violence or of sexually inappropriate behaviours.
The joint submission of the parties includes some proposed minor changes to the disposition, primarily around access to substances. Mr. Mushitsi would like to be able to use cannabis products containing CBD, and no THC, to assist with knee pain. There is also a proposal to change the wording of condition 4c) of the current disposition from not to attend anywhere cannabis or alcohol is dispensed or sold for a fee” to “not to attend anywhere cannabis is dispensed or sold for a fee”, as the former is considered too restrictive in the circumstances, as this would include most restaurants, grocery stores and corner stores.
Accordingly, having considered the four factors set out in s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code, namely the protection of the public, which is the paramount consideration, the mental condition of the accused, his reintegration into society and his other needs, the Board finds that the detention order, with the changes outlined above, remains the necessary and appropriate and least onerous and least restrictive disposition.
DATED this 23rd day of February 2026, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Ms. M. Labrosse Alternate Chairperson
Office of the Registrar
Ontario Review Board