Re: Jeanette M. Czyzewski
ORB File No: 6174
Hearing held on: Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Place of hearing: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Ms. C. Finley
Members: Dr. Y. Alatishe Dr. L.O. Lightfoot Hon. B. Allen Mr. J. Cyr
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Jeanette M. Czyzewski Counsel: Ms. M. Tucker
The person in charge of hospital: Counsel: Ms. M. Warner
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. V. Culp
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated January 8, 2026)
Introduction
On August 7, 2012, Jeanette Czyzewski was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (“NCR”) on charges of failing to comply with a probation order, failing to comply with a recognizance, and making harassing telephone calls, all contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada. She is currently subject to a disposition of the Ontario Review Board (“ORB” or “the Board”) dated November 19, 2024, detaining her at the Forensic Service of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto (“CAMH” or “the hospital”) with discretionary privileges including the ability to live in the community in approved accommodation.
On November 25, 2025, the Board convened a hearing pursuant to s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code. The issues to be determined were whether Ms. Czyzewski continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the pubic, and if so, the necessary and appropriate disposition to manage that threat having regard to the criteria set out in s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code. Ms. Czyzewski was present and represented by counsel, Ms. Tucker.
Ms. Warner, on behalf of the hospital, submitted that Ms. Czyzewski remains a significant threat to the safety of the public and the necessary and appropriate disposition is a continuation of the current detention order with no change. Ms. Culp concurred in the hospital’s positions. Ms. Tucker took no position on either issue.
Findings
- For the reasons that follow, the panel finds that Ms. Czyzewski remains a significant threat to the safety of the public and the necessary and appropriate disposition is a detention order with the same terms and conditions.
The Evidence
- The evidence at the hearing consisted of the Hospital Report, dated November 13, 2025, (ex. 1), and the viva voce evidence of Dr. Igoumenou, Ms. Czyzewski’s treating psychiatrist.
The Index Offences
- The circumstances of the index offences have been taken from last year’s Reasons for Disposition:
“Charge: Fail to Comply with Probation (Feb 17, 2011)
In July 2010, Dr. Peter Collins, a psychiatrist at CAMH, attended at 53 division to report that Ms. Czyzewski (the accused) had been calling him and sending him email messages since 2008. The police subsequently attended at Ms. Czyzewski’s residence to caution her about her behaviour. The behaviour stopped only temporarily, and in early October 2010, Dr. Collins again complained to the police, indicating that Ms. Czyzewski’s behaviour had become more erratic and was escalating. Ms. Czyzewski was arrested and charged with criminal harassment.
On October 13, 2010, Ms. Czyzewski was in court on the charge of criminal harassment. She was sentenced on the charge and placed on probation for 12 months, with conditions including not to associate, contact or communicate directly or indirectly with Dr. Collins.
On February 17, 2011, Dr. Collins received a phone call from the Ms. Czyzewski. He immediately recognized her voice and told her that as part of her conditions of her probation, she was not to be contacting him. She stated that she was well aware of her conditions but continued to call. She also sent approximately 30-40 emails. Dr. Collins contacted Ms. Czyzewski’s probation officer and the police and made them aware of the breach of her probation.
Charge: Fail to Comply with Probation/Recognizance (October 7-10, 2011)
On February 22, 2011, after being charged with failing to comply with probation, Ms. Czyzewski was held for a show cause hearing and then released on a recognizance. One of the conditions of her release required that she abstain from contacting Dr. Collins.
Later that year, over the course of the Thanksgiving weekend (October 7-10, 2011), Ms. Czyzewski contacted Dr. Collins seven times. On each occasion, she left a voicemail message. Although the messages did not contain the same sexual content as previous contacts, Ms. Czyzewski did state that she was well aware of her conditions and was willingly disregarding them.
On October 12, 2011, Dr. Collins reported this information to the police. Ms. Czyzewski was arrested and charged with failure to comply with probation/recognizance and criminal harassment.
Charge: Harassing Telephone Calls (May 5-11, 2012)
On May 11, 2012, Dr. Collins contacted police to advise that Ms. Czyzewski had been contacting him again and leaving messages.”
Background Information
The Hospital Report includes a significant amount of information about Ms. Czyzewski’s personal background and psychiatric history and need not be reviewed in detail beyond the following material facts. Ms. Czyzewski is a 50-year-old woman who was born and raised in the Greater Toronto Area. She completed high school and attended York University for two years. She could not continue her studies due to the onset of her mental illness. She currently receives financial support from the Ontario Disability Support Program (“ODSP”).
Ms. Czyzewski was found NCR for the index offences in August 2012 and admitted to Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences. She became subject to a conditional discharge and resided in Etobicoke with her mother. She was supported by the Forensic Outpatient Service and the South Centre Etobicoke ACT1 team.
In October 2014, her care was transferred to CAMH. Unfortunately, Ms. Czyzewski developed sleep problems and experienced a deterioration in her mental status. She continued to have difficulty in observing personal boundaries. Ms. Czyzewski was admitted to CAMH as her mother could no longer provide the support that Ms. Czyzewski required to manage her risk to the public.
In April 2015, while at CAMH, Ms. Czyzewski developed erotomanic delusions towards a physician on her unit, necessitating a transfer to another general forensic unit. Clozapine was prescribed and her sleep was improved with the use of a CPAP machine. Additionally, behavioural therapy and a behaviour contract were introduced.
Over the next two years, there were a number of discharges to supportive community housing followed by readmissions to hospital. Housing staff voiced concerns about Ms. Czyzewski’s verbal aggression and manipulative behaviour. Also, during this time, Ms. Czyzewski continued to contact male psychiatrists, including Dr. Collins, and leave bizarre and sexualized messages. She also continued to approach other male staff and make sexual overtures despite repeated discussions about her inappropriate behaviours and boundary violations.
On Valentine's Day in 2017, Ms. Czyzewski took a train to Ottawa intent on finding Justin Trudeau. She had previously sent letters and emails to him indicating a desire to have a sexual relationship with him. She was readmitted to CAMH. As in the previous admissions, Ms. Czyzewski continued to focus her attention on male members of staff.
Ms. Czyzewski was eventually discharged to Oakwood ARCH, which offered a high degree of clinical staffing and support. Unfortunately, in December 2019 another readmission was required. She repeatedly contacted male psychiatrists working at CAMH and failed to attend scheduled appointments with her treatment team. She also voiced paranoid thoughts towards housing staff. On admission to the hospital, she continued to make inappropriate comments about Dr. Collins and how she wanted to have a family with him. She remained overtly sexually preoccupied. However, within a few months, with the structure and support of the forensic unit, Ms. Czyzewski’s mental status began to return to her baseline level of disorganization.
In early April 2021, Ms. Czyzewski was able to resume accompanied passes to the community. In the months that followed, she continued to exhibit her baseline fragility and fluctuations in her mental state. She also continued to exhibit inappropriate behaviours related to personal boundaries.
Ms. Czyzewski was ultimately discharged to supportive housing in late October 2022. Her outpatient supports included high-intensity case management with EFOPS2, ongoing weekly individual meetings with a psychologist, Dr. Cripps, and 24-hour supervision at her residence.
On March 1, 2023, Ms. Czyzewski bought and used a one-way train ticket to Ottawa, with the intention of meeting Justin Trudeau, who was again the subject of her erotomanic delusions. When she realized she had no money for lodging, she called her family who paid for a hotel for the night in Ottawa and a train ticket for her return to Toronto. She had missed all of her medications that day.
Upon her return the following day, Ms. Czyzewski exhibited a significant deterioration in her mental state. She presented as thought disorganized, irritable, and labile, which was a major change from the stability that the treating team had seen in the previous six months. Ms. Czyzewski was also paranoid about her case manager, who she believed was interfering in her relationship with Mr. Trudeau. Ms. Czyzewski was agitated and verbally threatening towards her case manager when she was brought to hospital and ultimately admitted.
Course Since the Last Disposition
Ms. Czyzewski has continued to reside at CAMH since her admission in 2023. Her treating psychiatrist was Dr. Van until October 2025, when Dr. Igoumenou took over her care. Ms. Czyzewski’s current diagnosis is Schizoaffective Disorder, Bipolar type.
Over the course of the last year, Ms. Czyzewski’s mental status has remained unchanged. Her thought process has consistently been characterized by flight of ideas and tangentiality, although she remains redirectable. Her affect has been notably labile. She frequently verbalizes paranoid thoughts, expressing concerns about others attempting to harm her, sexually assault her, or steal her belongings. She has been easily angered, impulsive and often unwilling to follow staff direction.
Ms. Czyzewski continues to direct sexualized comments toward male staff. She also has frequently voiced an intention to have a sexual relationship with Bon Jovi and has sent him messages. To that end, on July 1, 2025, while ostensibly exercising a pass to visit her mother, Ms. Czyzewski was intercepted by Canadian Border Patrol officers while walking across the Rainbow Bridge. She stated that she was walking to New Jersey to watch a Bon Jovi show.
Ms. Czyzewski continues to meet twice weekly with Dr. Cripps, focusing on her mood, concerns, and goals, as well as reality testing of her delusional beliefs.
Ms. Czyzewski has received consistent support from her family. Her mother and sister have visited her in the unit on alternate weekends. She has exercised passes to the community with her sister over the weekends and spent Thanksgiving with her family. She has frequent group chats with her family.
The Hospital Report includes the following description of Ms. Czyzewski’s clinical risk factors and re-offence scenario, at p.83:
“Ms. Czyzewski’s clinical assessment of risk is largely represented by her impulsivity in the context of active symptoms of her mental illness, with associated intense behaviour causing significant psychological harm to the victims.
The most likely scenario would be one where Ms. Czyzewski is non-compliant with her medication and intensifies unwanted and inappropriate contact with male figures. This behaviour could also be precipitated by stressors (despite medication adherence). Noteworthy, Ms. Czyzewski appears to be more vulnerable to relapse and hypersexuality when premenstrual. It is expected that stronger obsessions are associated with higher frequency stalking behaviours. Ms. Czyzewski’s level of interest and preoccupation with the victim will intensify in the context of poor supervision and support. The aforementioned trajectory of quick mental status decompensation resembles her index offences. Ms. Czyzewski may likely begin to act out her erotomanic ideas by phone, electronically, and by third parties. She would become sexually preoccupied with the target, leading to the direct or indirect intense, frequent, obscene communication and problematic behaviours. The aforementioned patterns of conduct tend to escalate along the spectrum of stalking, leading to approaching the victim in person and threatening actions. The risk is dynamic and multi-dimensional. Thus, it can escalate in response to a change in psychiatric status and psychosocial environment…Ms. Czyzewski is vulnerable to exacerbation of her psychotic symptoms in the context of suboptimally treated mental illness, given her history of marked treatment resistance. Her mental illness may further deteriorate under the aforementioned circumstances, and the imminent safety risks to herself and others in the community will likely escalate.”
Before Ms. Czyzewski was stopped at the border, she had reached level 9 passes which allowed for access to the community, indirectly supervised. Upon her return to hospital by police, her passes were withheld. She has had to work her way back through the various pass levels and currently has achieved level 4 passes.
Dr. Igoumenou testified that Ms. Czyzewski’s mental state has fluctuated over the course of the year. Ms. Czyzewski has a treatment resistant psychotic disorder, and she continues to experience psychotic symptoms notwithstanding compliance with treatment. It can be difficult to find a trigger for these fluctuations, although stress and environmental factors are often present.
Ms. Czyzewski requires high levels of support and clear boundaries, without which she would stop taking her medications and she would experience a further deterioration and present an increased risk to the public. That risk would be primarily psychological harm to potential victims resulting from harassing behaviour.
Dr. Igoumenou indicated that there was a plan to discharge Ms. Czyzewski two days after she travelled to the border. That episode resulted in Ms. Czyzewski’s passes being revoked and she had to start the pass ladder from the beginning. When she is ready for discharge, it will be to a 24-hour supervised and supportive housing.
Dr. Igoumenou testified that the Mental Health Act would not be adequate to bring Ms. Czyzewski to the hospital for an assessment in a timely manner. The treatment team requires a detention order to admit Ms. Czyzewski when necessary and to keep her as an inpatient until adequately treated.
Over the past year, Ms. Czyzewski has successfully completed a number of courses online through Coursera. She also is interested in culinary arts, knitting and crocheting. Ms. Czyzewski’s family continues to provide support. She regularly spends weekends with her sister.
Submissions
Ms. Warner submitted that Ms. Czyzewski suffers from a treatment-resistant psychotic illness and experiences psychotic symptoms even when compliant with treatment. She poses significant behavioural challenges. As a result, she requires significant support, supervision, and monitoring. Absent that oversight, she would pose a significant risk to the safety of the public. The necessary and appropriate disposition is a detention order. The treatment team needs to have the ability to identify and approve appropriate housing in the community. Ms. Culp endorsed the hospital’s submissions.
Ms. Tucker stated that Ms. Czyzewski would like to be discharged from the hospital. She has continued to work cooperatively with the treatment team, taking her medication and being open about her experiences. She has been productive while in hospital and is looking forward to starting a course in Culinary Arts at Centennial College. Ms. Czyzewski also would like to maximize her contact with her family.
Analysis and Conclusion
The panel has carefully considered the Hospital Report and the evidence of Dr. Igoumenou and unanimously finds that Ms. Czyzewski continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public. Ms. Czyzewski’s risk flows from her diagnosis of Schizoaffective Disorder, Bipolar type. Notwithstanding compliance with treatment, Ms. Czyzewski has a significant symptom burden. She experiences ongoing psychotic symptoms and impulsivity.
If not subject to the jurisdiction of the Board, Ms. Czyzewski would become noncompliant with treatment. Her unwanted and inappropriate behaviour would intensify, causing significant psychological distress to individuals who are the targets of her delusion. As such, she remains a significant threat to the safety of the public.
The panel further finds that the necessary and appropriate disposition is a continuation of the current detention order. When Ms. Czyzewski is ready to be discharged into the community, she will require significant support, supervision, and monitoring. Any proposed residence must include 24/7 support and supervision. Appropriate housing is critical to managing Ms. Czyzewski’s risk for further stalking and harassing behaviour.
The panel also accepts Dr. Igoumenou’s opinion that the provisions of the Mental Health Act would not be sufficient to return Ms. Czyzewski to hospital in a timely manner should that be required.
The panel congratulates Ms. Czyzewski in her achievements while an inpatient at CAMH. She has successfully completed various online courses and has realistic plans to take programs in the area of culinary arts. Importantly, she continues to enjoy the support from her mother, father, and sister, and is able to spend time with them on weekends.
Accordingly, the panel 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, Ms. Czyzewski’s community reintegration, her mental condition, and her other needs as required by s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code.
DATED this 8th day of January, 2026, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Ms. C. Finley Alternate Chairperson
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Office of the Registrar Ontario Review Board