Ontario Review Board
Re: Anthony J. Villanueva
ORB File No: 7168
Hearing held on: Thursday, March 05, 2026
Place of hearing: Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care 401 Sunset Drive, St. Thomas, Ontario
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(2.1) of the Criminal Code
Before: Alternate Chairperson: Ms. T. Mann Members: Mr. E. Siebenmorgen Dr. R. Chandrasena Dr. A. Kerry Ms. B. Little
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Anthony J. Villanueva Counsel: Mr. J. Chapnick
The person in charge of hospital: Counsel: Ms. J. Zamprogna
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Mr. J. Huber
REASONS FOR DECISION AND DISPOSITION
(Dated April 13, 2026)
Introduction
On July 4, 2017, Anthony Villanueva was found not criminally responsible (“NCR”) on account of mental disorder on charges of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose; prowl by night; mischief over $5000; and, resisting arrest, all contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada (“the Criminal Code”).
Mr. Villanueva is currently subject to a Detention Disposition of the Ontario Review Board (“the Board” or “ORB”), dated November 11, 2025, detaining him at the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care (“Southwest” or “Hospital”) with privileges including living in the community of Southwestern Ontario in accommodation approved by the person in charge of the Hospital.
Pursuant to s.672.56(2) of the Criminal Code, Southwest notified the Board, by letter dated January 16, 2026, that Mr. Villanueva’s liberty had been restricted. On December 30, 2025, he had been taken by ambulance to London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and from there Mr. Villanueva was admitted to Southwest on December 31, 2025. Prior to this admission, Mr. Villanueva had been living in the community, in transitional rehabilitation housing since April 2024.
On March 05, 2026, the Board convened this panel to review the restriction of Mr. Villanueva’s liberty from December 30, 2025, to the date of the hearing pursuant to section 672.81(2.1) of the Criminal Code. The Board further reviewed the Disposition of the Board dated November 11, 2025. Mr. Villanueva was present at the hearing with his counsel, Mr. J. Chapnick.
The issue at the hearing was whether the Hospital’s decision to increase the restrictions on Mr. Villanueva’s liberty on December 30, 2025, was the necessary and appropriate, least restrictive and least onerous intervention available to manage his risk throughout its duration. An additional issue was raised by the Hospital which required an amendment to the current Disposition, as specified in the Reasons, below.
Position of the Parties
- At the outset, the parties were canvassed as to their respective, without prejudice recommendations to the Board. The Hospital, Attorney General and Mr. Chapnick were joined in their submission that the restriction on Mr. Villanueva’s liberty on December 31, 2025, was the least restrictive and least onerous available in the circumstance and continued to be warranted up to and including the date of the hearing. As for the necessary and appropriate disposition, the Hospital recommended that that there be an abstinence clause added to the current disposition; counsel for the Attorney General and Mr. Villanueva were in agreement with this as well. Mr. Chapnick advised that Mr. Villanueva consented to the waiving of the 30-day notice provision to permit the proposed amendment to be made at the hearing. The parties maintained their respective positions in closing submissions following the conclusion of the evidence adduced at the hearing.
Index Offences
- Details of the Index Offence are taken from the Reasons for Disposition dated December 29, 2025, as follows:
On April 2, 2017, at approximately 5:19 AM, officers from the Sarnia Police Service received a radio call in regard to an unwanted person aboard the Algoma Transport freighter on Seaway Road in the City of Sarnia. Information provided was that a single male, approximately 6’ tall with a thick build, 170 lbs, wearing a grey and blue toque with a black jacket was on board.
Upon officers arriving, they were informed by the crew that the male had boarded the docked ship and was currently in the kitchen galley. He was holding what appeared to be an approximately 16-inch knife. It was advised that the male appeared to be having a mental breakdown and was not listening to the commands to leave the freighter.
The officers attended on to the freighter and observed Anthony Villanueva inside the kitchen galley through an outside window. Entry was made through a door, and officers were met by Villanueva. During this confrontation, Villanueva was holding an approximately 16-inch knife. He was commanded multiple times to drop the knife before a taser was deployed. A struggle ensued and Villanueva was eventually taken into custody.
Background
The Hospital Report dated September 4, 2025, and the Restriction of Liberty Report dated February 17, 2026, along with the documents forming the Record, provide a great deal of information concerning Mr. Villanueva’s background, mental health history, and other information covering the timeframe leading up to the index offences as well his progress under the jurisdiction of the Board. As such, it is not necessary to reproduce in detail the information contained therein but the following is provided for context and to assist in understanding the Board’s decisions at the hearing.
Mr. Villanueva has a history of mental health difficulties that began at an early age, including suicidal ideation, hyperactivity, impulsivity, fire setting and hypomania. As an adult, he has been diagnosed variously with reactive depression, polysubstance use disorder and a further possible diagnosis of personality disorder. As of the date of the last annual review his diagnoses were: Schizophrenia; History of Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD); Substance Use Disorder (SUD) – in remission in a controlled environment. He has a criminal record which includes convictions for assault, mischief under $5000 and non-compliance with court orders. A charge of sexual assault of his wife was withdrawn following Mr. Villanueva’s entering into a common-law peace bond for 18 months. Mr. Villanueva’s major mental illnesses were key factors in the commission of his index offences and subsequent offending behaviour, including the sexual assault charge involving his former spouse.
At the time of last year’s annual review hearing in November 2025, Mr. Villanueva was assessed as doing very well overall and described as having good insight into his illnesses, need for treatment and risk of violence. He was mentally stable, medication adherent, pro-social, employed full-time, exercised privileges and passes appropriately and engaged in treatment and follow-up (Outreach team, social worker from his residence). Significantly, he relied on appropriate coping strategies, employment (keeping busy, providing structure and meaning to his days), mindfulness, breathing exercises and group meetings to control cravings to use substances when they arose. However, he remained stress vulnerable. If unable to cope with stressors, there was a likelihood that Mr. Villanueva would feel triggered to reengage in substance use, followed by swift decompensation, increasing his risk of violence.
The treatment team recommended the removal of the abstention clause while maintaining the requirement to submit urine and breath samples for analysis. This would constitute a “testing period” to see if Mr. Villanueva’s insight into the deleterious effects of substance use on his mental stability and risk to the safety of others was sufficient motivation to maintain abstinence while he worked on preparing to transition towards independent living in April 2026 when his tenure at the London residence would come to an end.
Evidence Regarding the Restriction of Liberty
The panel had before it the documents forming the Record and a number of documents which were made exhibits at the hearing. The exhibits consisted of the following documents:
Letter from Southwest to the Board dated January 13, 2026 (Exhibit 1);
Letter from the Board dated February 5, 2026 scheduling the hearing (Exhibit 2);
Hospital Report dated September 4, 2025 (Exhibit 3); and
Restriction of Liberty Report dated February 17, 2026 (“ROL Report”) (Exhibit 4).
The Hospital’s letter to the Board dated January 13, 2026, advised that prior to his readmission on December 31, 2025, Mr. Villanueva was residing at a 24/7 supported transitional residence in London, Ontario and had been living there since April 2024. There he had been supported by both the Forensic Outreach team and residence staff. On December 30, 2025, Mr. Villanueva’s family, while speaking with him, became concerned about his safety and called an ambulance to the residence. It was subsequently determined that Mr. Villanueva had relapsed into drug use, specifically crack cocaine and crystal methamphetamine.
Initially Mr. Villanueva was taken to LHSC where he presented in a very decompensated state and required physical restraints to manage his aggressive and agitated behaviour. On December 31, 2025, he was transported to Southwest where he was admitted and remained as of the date of the hearing.
Evidence at the Hearing
In addition to the documentary evidence, the Board also had the benefit of the oral evidence of Mr. Villanueva’s forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Ajay Prakash. In his evidence, Dr. Prakash confirmed he had been involved in the assessment and treatment of Mr. Villanueva since his re-admission to the Hospital and had co-signed the Restriction of Liberty Report. He continued to endorse its findings and recommendations, as well the information contained within the Hospital Report.
Dr. Prakash confirmed that Mr. Villanueva was subject to a Detention Disposition and had resided for almost two years at the supervised residence in London prior to the most recent decompensation. The Hospital was about to transition Mr. Villanueva into a more independent type of housing when this relapse occurred.
As noted in the ROL report, during Mr. Villanueva’s assessment on December 31, 2025, he disclosed that he had been using crack cocaine and “a little bit” of crystal methamphetamine. Notably, Mr. Villanueva has a history of suicidal thoughts that emerge in the context of cocaine withdrawal. Mr. Villanueva continued to have fair insight into his mental illness and acknowledged he had Schizophrenia.
Mr. Villanueva was re-assessed on January 5, 2026, and was again transparent in describing his recent substance use (relapsing five times throughout December 2025). He described an incident of driving a vehicle owned by his employer after using crack cocaine. He also reported contacting the individual he is to have no contact with as stipulated in his latest Disposition.
Since his readmission to hospital, Mr. Villanueva has demonstrated good engagement with services. He was assessed again on January 6, 13, 16, and February 11, 2026, and according to Dr. Prakash was doing quite well in terms of engaging in relapse prevention programming and was working closely with a hospital psychologist. The plan now is to move Mr. Villanueva to a treatment unit.
In terms of privileges, Mr. Villanueva is progressing through the privilege ladder. He is on level three (3) currently which allows for indirectly supervised access to the Hospital during the day, except for meals and medication administration, when he is required to be back on his unit. More generally, the goal continues to be to reintegrate Mr. Villanueva back into the community.
Dr. Prakash explained that it is believed that adding an “abstain from” clause back into Mr. Villanueva’s disposition will act to provide the necessary degree of extrinsic control to help him maintain abstinence while he and the clinical team work together on his gradual transition back to the community. The doctor noted that such a term will assist in diminishing the risk posed to the safety of the public by Mr. Villanueva’s substance use.
Analysis and Conclusions
The Board finds that a significant increase in the restriction on Mr. Villanueva’s liberty took place on December 31 2025 when he was admitted to the Hospital from living in the community after relapsing to use of substances. This restriction then continued to the date of the hearing. This change was a significant departure from the liberty norm Mr. Villanueva had previously experienced when living in the community.
The Board accepts the uncontroverted evidence of Dr. Prakash and the information set out in the Hospital reports, that Mr. Villanueva has admitted having relapsed several times into using substances in the month prior to being admitted to Hospital. These relapses have included the use of crack cocaine, and crystal methamphetamine, among other drugs. These substances, or combination of them with other factors, caused Mr. Villeneuva to decompensate quickly into experiencing symptoms of his mental illness which affected his overall stability.
Mr. Villanueva has admitted that during this timeframe he engaged in reckless behaviour such as driving a company vehicle while seeking out crack cocaine and breaching the no contact provision of his Disposition. Both behaviours clearly posed a risk to public safety; something that he was unable to recognize at the time. Regarding the breach of the “no contact” provision of his Disposition, he stated, “I didn’t understand the harm that I was doing in that. I thought it was okay. I always wanted to make sure she was okay, and talking to her wouldn’t affect anything” (p. 3 of the ROL report).
Importantly, a key submission presented by the parties at Mr. Villanueva’s last annual review in November 2025 was the recommended removal of the clause in his disposition requiring Mr. Villanueva to abstain from the use of substances or alcohol while maintaining a condition that he submit to screenings to monitor his abstinence from the same. The parties suggested that this would be undertaken in an attempt to assess Mr. Villanueva’s internally motivated insight into the risks associated with his use of substances. On the evidence before it, last year’s panel granted the parties’ request and removed the “abstain from” clause in Mr. Villanueva’s Disposition.
With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that Mr. Villanueva still requires the extrinsic support of a clause requiring him to abstain from using intoxicating substances; he relapsed in less than a month. His use of crack cocaine and crystal methathetamine was not incidental nor fleeting. The fact he was behind the wheel of a vehicle while under the influence placed the safety of the public at high risk. While Mr. Villanueva has insight into the impact of substance use upon his mental health and behaviours, this has yet to translate into sustained abstention without a term in his disposition requiring him to do so.
Much to his credit, since his readmission to hospital, Mr. Villanueva has taken many positive steps. However, these efforts are in their early days. There are also other stressors that will soon attach to his progress, including any fresh efforts to move back into the community. This may involve the transitional residence where he resided at the time he was readmitted to hospital.
Considering all of the facts and circumstances, the Board finds that the significant restriction of Mr. Villanueva’s liberty from December 30, 2025, to the present was necessary and appropriate for the safety of the public. Further, it was the least onerous and least restrictive measure at the time it was imposed and continues to be so.
Further, the Board finds Mr. Villanueva continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public and adopts the facts and analyses set out in the Reasons for Disposition dated December 29, 2025.
Turning to the necessary and appropriate Disposition, the Board finds that a detention Disposition on the terms requested is the least onerous and least restrictive means of ensuring the safety of the public. The necessity for an abstention clause is manifestly apparent from the facts and circumstances leading up to Mr. Villanueva’s readmission to hospital on December 31, 2025.
The evidence confirms that since being admitted to Southwest, Mr. Villaneuve has put effort into working with the treatment teams, accessing treatment and making progress. The Board commends Mr. Villanueva for his cooperation and efforts to advance his recovery. We wish him the best for the coming year.
On the facts before it, the Board finds there is no need to change the anticipated date of Mr. Villanueva’s next annual review.
In coming to this determination, the Board has considered the criteria set out in s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code, the paramount consideration being the safety of the public, the mental condition of Mr. Villanueva, his reintegration into society and his other needs.
DATED this 13^th^ day of April 2026, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Ms. T. Mann Alternate Chair
Office of the Registrar Ontario Review Board