Re: Naphthali Edwards
ORB File No: 8592
Hearing held on: Tuesday, November 4, 2025
Place of hearing: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Mr. J. Weinstein
Members: Dr. L.E. Cappe Dr. S. Wiseman Ms. N. Nathanson Mr. J. Cyr
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Naphthali Edwards Counsel: Mr. T. Whillier
The person in charge of hospital: Counsel: Mr. D. Blumenkrans
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. V. Culp
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated March 4, 2026)
Introduction
Mr. Edwards was charged with carry concealed weapon, two counts of assault with a weapon, fail to comply with release order, and disobey court order. He was found not criminally responsible (“NCR”) for these offences on July 11, 2024.
A panel of the Ontario Review Board (the “ORB” or “the panel”) convened a hearing pursuant to s. 672.81(1) on November 4, 2025, at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (“CAMH” or “the Hospital”), to consider whether Mr. Edwards represented a significant threat to the safety of the public, and if so, to establish the appropriate Disposition.
Position of the Parties
The Hospital recommended a Detention Order, with similar terms to the existing Disposition but adding a provision to reside in the community in approved accommodation with weekly reporting. In addition, the Hospital was recommending the inclusion of a privilege allowing Mr. Edwards indirectly supervised passes into the Greater Toronto Area.
Mr. Whillier, counsel for Mr. Edwards, supported the Hospital position but sought an additional condition permitting passes for up to one month to travel to the West Indies with an approved itinerary and accompanied by an approved person. In the alternative, he sought travel passes with the same terms for two weeks.
The Hospital and Counsel for the Ministry of the Attorney General opposed travel passes.
Index Offences
- The Reasons for Disposition of November 26, 2024, set out the facts underlying the Index Offences as follows:
Mr. Edwards was known to regularly sit at the corner of Queen St. and Spadina Ave in Toronto surrounded by cardboard boxes. On May 13, 2022, a couple was standing at this corner waiting for the light to change. Mr. Edwards threw a knife past the victim into the center of the roadway. The victim picked up the knife, and Mr. Edwards confronted the victim demanding his knife back. The victim threw the knife over a fence onto an abandoned lot, which angered Mr. Edwards. Mr. Edwards pulled out a second knife which was concealed in his clothing, and walked towards the victim. A physical altercation took place with both of them on the ground. The victim’s girlfriend pulled Mr. Edwards off of the victim and Mr. Edwards left the area. He was subject to 2 separate release orders from the court which he breached in committing these offences.
Current Psychiatric Diagnoses
- Mr. Edwards is diagnosed with schizophrenia, possible antisocial personality disorder, and possible paraphilic disorder.
Background and History
The Hospital Report and Reasons for Disposition, November 26, 2024, set out Mr. Edwards’ background and need not be repeated here in detail.
Briefly, Mr. Edwards, 36 years of age, was born in Grenada. His mother immigrated to Canada when he was two years old leaving him to be raised by his paternal grandparents in Grenada. Mr. Edwards joined his mother when he was seven years of age. However, he was sent back to Grenada as a teenager as his mother had difficulty parenting him. He returned to Canada when Granada was experiencing a hurricane warning.
After his return to Canada, Mr. Edwards lived at the Touchstone Youth Shelter and thereafter has not had stable housing.
At the time of the Index Offence, Mr. Edwards was of no fixed address. He is single, does not have children and does not appear to have had any significant employment history.
The Hospital Report refers to his extensive history of hospitalization for psychiatric treatment beginning in 2008. He has exhibited bizarre behaviour, verbal aggression, and disorganized thought. On a few occasions, he was taken to the hospital after being observed running in traffic.
He has engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior in the community and in hospital. The Hospital believes a paraphilic disorder is a possibility and will be assessed over time.
Mr. Edwards has had no insight into his mental illness and has been resistant to taking medication.
Mr. Edwards’ criminal record consists of convictions for various breaches of court orders, and assault with a weapon, June 21, 2023, for the stabbing of a person with a fork getting off the bus.
Course Since Last Disposition
- The Hospital Report, page 13 indicates:
His mental state was generally stable with no evidence of positive psychotic symptoms, though he exhibited a few incidents of sexually inappropriate behaviours. He continued to lack insight into his mental illness and need for treatment, however, he was compliant with his long-acting injection, which was changed from paliperidone to aripiprazole in April 2025. He required significant encouragement to engage in therapeutic programming, but by the end of the year was doing so regularly. He had telephone contact with his mother and sister, and they visited several times over the year. He had access to indirectly supervised hospital grounds passes for recreational and social purposes since August 18, 2025 and used these regularly without incident. Of note, this was the highest privilege level afforded by his current disposition. A case conference was held on September 23, 2025, and he was approved for a transfer to a general unit. …Mr. Edward’s mental state was stable throughout the reporting year. He did not exhibit positive symptoms of psychosis, however, his affect remained restricted and he continued to provide vague responses to questions.
There were two incidents of sexually inappropriate behaviour. In February 2025, he masturbated in view of a female co-patient and in March 2025, Mr. Edwards inappropriately caressed a staff member’s arm. He was referred to the sexual behaviours clinic on March 11, 2025, and the assessment remains pending.
His score on the PCL-R placed him at the low end of the high range for presence of psychopathic traits. No score has yet been provided.
In terms of reoffence scenario, at page 20 the Hospital Report, indicates:
In the absence of external monitoring and controls, he will likely refuse psychiatric treatment and avoid psychiatric services given his longstanding history of this and his lack of insight. If Mr. Edwards were to reoffend, it would likely be in the context of the above, leading to disturbed perceptions and paranoid and persecutory delusions, which would cause him to misperceive the behaviour of others. His lack of insight into his symptoms and behaviours is longstanding, and as a result, he is likely to again engage in impulsive, agitated, sexually inappropriate, and aggressive behaviour. Behaviour could range from minor to serious threats and physical violence.
Mr. Edwards’ mother and sister first visited him in December 2024, and he remained in contact with them over the course of the year. He has declined to apply for Ontario Disability Support Program (“ODSP”) or Ontario Works (“OW”).
Substances have not been an issue throughout the reporting year.
Evidence at the Hearing
Dr. A. Arnold, Forensic Psychiatry Resident, PGY-6, acting under the supervision Dr. R. Jones, gave evidence for the Hospital. On October 16, 2025, Mr. Edwards was transferred from a secure forensic unit to a general forensic unit (Unit 1).
The Hospital has significant concerns about travel at this early stage and, while it may be a goal to work toward, it is viewed as premature. Mr. Edwards first mentioned travel passes and his family in the West Indies in the past few weeks. He does not, at this point, have an approved person. He has a long-standing illness featuring psychosis and paranoia. He lacks insight into his illness so if he were to decompensate, it is unlikely he would recognize it and seek assistance. It is likely he would misinterpret cues of others and potentially engage in sexually inappropriate behavior and assault. If he were to decompensate outside the country, there would be limited ability to respond and pose an increased risk to the safety of the public.
Dr. Arnold indicated that to support future travel, the Hospital would like to see Mr. Edwards becoming more forthcoming about his relationships with his family members and ideally for the treatment team to have some contact with the family over the coming reporting year to understand the nature of the travel contemplated in order to consider how risk can be managed.
Upon questioning, Dr. Arnold advised that even if travel were included in the Disposition, it would have to be approved and it was not likely to be approved this year. The Hospital would like to see how well he does and how he manages stress in a less structured environment such as community living before considering international travel.
Since August 18, 2025, Mr. Edwards has been exercising level 6 passes well. These are passes for indirectly supervised access to hospital and grounds, but his Disposition has not permitted indirectly supervised access to the community. She would like to see stability in the use of indirectly supervised community passes before any travel is considered.
Next steps for Mr. Edwards, if he continues to do well, will be to continue to access additional privileges and consideration of housing with an assessment for housing. Mr. Edwards’ is awaiting an assessment related to his sexually inappropriate conduct that may determine whether housing can be co-ed.
Dr. Arnold indicated that the inclusion of community living is sought for the purposes of discharge planning as he may be ready within this next year to make housing applications and be placed on waitlists. However, he is unlikely to be discharged into community housing this year. He has no income and has not applied for ODSP, despite being encouraged to do so.
Dr. Arnold indicated that Mr. Edwards would like his mother to be an approved person. Mr. Edwards has been guarded about discussing his family and declined to say a great deal about his family in the West Indies, but he had spoken to his father about three weeks prior to the hearing.
Dr. Arnold indicated that Mr. Edwards has voiced a desire to consume substances.
In responding to questions about the possible diagnosis of anti-social personality disorder (“ASPD”), Dr. Arnold stated there has been a pervasive pattern of not adhering to societal norms and irresponsibility. However, it remains unclear whether this pattern has been only in the context of his psychotic illness. In recent months when Mr. Edwards has been well treated with respect to psychosis, there have not been any significant antisocial behaviors or attitudes observed. As a result, the ASPD diagnosis requires further consideration over time.
Dr. Arnold agreed that a Conditional Discharge was not appropriate based on the factors set out in paragraphs 31-34 of last year’s Reasons and that the Mental Health Act would not be sufficient to manage Mr. Edwards’ risk to the safety of the public.
Analysis and Conclusions
The Board accepts without reservation that Mr. Edwards remains a significant threat to public safety. We find that a Detention Order with the privileges and restrictions as set out in the Disposition Order is the necessary and appropriate Disposition.
Mr. Edwards is diagnosed with schizophrenia, possible antisocial personality disorder, and possible paraphilic disorder. He has an extensive psychiatric history that has featured refusal of psychiatric treatment and services. His lack of insight into his symptoms and behaviours is longstanding. He has a history of impulsive, agitated, sexually inappropriate and aggressive behaviour. He has a criminal record for violence.
This year, his mental state was generally stable with no evidence of positive psychotic symptoms, however, there were incidents of sexually inappropriate behaviours and his affect remained restricted. He continued to lack insight into his mental illness and need for treatment. To his credit, he has been compliant with his long-acting injection and has used his hospital and grounds privileges regularly and without incident.
We agree that a provision for community living should be included to allow for a housing assessment and potential placement on waitlists when the time is appropriate.
We are of the view that travel passes are premature. In making this decision, we take into account the following factors. Mr. Edwards’ Index Offence involved a weapon, and he has exhibited sexually inappropriate behavior (as recently as March of this year). He has recently moved from a secure forensic unit to a general forensic unit and has not yet had an opportunity to access the community with indirect supervision. His ability to manage well in a less structured environment has not yet been demonstrated. Mr. Edwards does not yet have an approved person, there has been no contact or information provided about his family in the West Indies, and the nature of the travel contemplated is not well-understood. We accept Dr. Arnold’s evidence that, were he to decompensate in an international environment, with his limited insight, it is unlikely that he would recognize it and seek assistance. This would represent a threat to public safety.
We agree with the Hospital that Mr. Edwards’ ability to successfully utilize privileges to access the community while indirectly supervised will be an important step in determining readiness for community housing and possible future travel.
In reaching our Disposition, the Board has taken into consideration the need to protect the safety of the public, which is a paramount consideration, Mr. Edwards’ mental condition and his reintegration into society and his other needs.
DATED this 4th day of March, 2026, at the City of Toronto, in the Region of Toronto.
Ms. N. Nathanson Legal Member
Office of the Registrar Ontario Review Board