ONTARIO

SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE

Toronto

Court File No.: FS-12-382562
Date: 2013/10/11

Between

William Allen Gordon
Self-Represented Applicant
Applicant

• and -

Ileana Gordon
Respondent
Self-Represented Respondent

Heard: September 30; October 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 2013

Reasons

HARPER S.J.F.:

Issues

Custody of the child WTG, born September 16, 2009;

Access to the child WTG;

Whether the Applicant, father, William can move to Edmonton Alberta with the child;

Child Support

Relationship and Marriage Particulars

[1] William and Ileana met in 2008 and shortly thereafter they started to live together. They moved into a condominium that was owned by Ileana. WTG was born in September of 2009. Ileana and William got married in July of 2011. The child WTG is presently 4 years old.

William’s Background

[2] William was born in 1965 in British Columbia. He is the youngest of 3 siblings. His brother and sister are 18 and 16 years older than him.

[3] He completed high school and college in British Columbia. He then joined the military. He left the military with an honorable discharge in 1993. He worked in the civilian sector until he retired in 2008.

[4] William receives a number of pensions from Veterans Affairs Canada for injuries he received overseas. According to him, he has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, anxiety, arthritic type of conditions to his knees and degenerative disc problems. William also has sleep apnea. He has been under the care of his family doctor since 2008. William testified that he no longer takes any prescription medicine. He drinks alcohol in moderation by social drinking with friends and family, from time to time having a glass of wine or two. He is a smoker. However, he states that he does not smoke in the home or around his son.

[5] William was married three times previous to the marriage to Ileana. His third wife had Huntington’s disease. He and his then wife moved to Ontario to facilitate her being close to her family while her condition worsened. William’s extended family continues to live in western Canada either in British Columbia of the Edmonton area. William told the assessor, Dr. Sutton, that his second wife had an affair and he was so distressed that he did assault her. He pled guilty and was given conditional discharge. He dies not have a criminal record.

[6] William had a child of that marriage. He told the assessor that after the separation the mother of the child made it extremely difficult for him to have a relationship with his daughter. She prevented access that was already limited due to his constant placements overseas and elsewhere with the military.

[7] At the time of their marriage, William and Ileana lived in Toronto. Ileana worked at times in a security firm. William did not work and he stayed at home to care for the child WTG. In September, 2011, shortly after William and Ileana were married, William started post graduate studies at Heritage College Seminary. He intended on becoming a pastor in his church.

Ileana’s Background

[8] She was born in Romania. She has one sister who continues to reside there. Ileana came to Canada in 1998. She worked as an exotic dancer on and off until 2006. She became a Canadian on a VISA she obtained when she came to Canada as a dancer. She obtained her Canadian citizenship in 2002 She had two very brief marriages prior to cohabiting with William. She had no children from her previous marriages. She was working at the same security company that William was working at when they met in 2008. Since that time she worked briefly on shift work and then secured a job as a superintendent with condo complex. Her mother assisted her with those duties.

Tumultuous Relationship

[9] After their child was born the relationship between Ileana and William became ever increasingly strained. A long and tortuous pattern of multiple allegations of sexual abuse were made by both Ileana and against William. Ileana testified that she started to have concerns as early as the child being only two months old. That would have been approximately November of 2009.

[10] Ileana stated that before the child was 6 months old she found blood in the child’s diaper. She went to the child’s pediatrician and told him about it. According to Ileana, William kept interrupting and constantly explained that I was just overreacting as a young mother. After the visit to Dr. Tao, no report was made to any child protection agency and there was no investigation of abuse.

[11] Ileana stated that she did research on her own and looked at the internet and other books about whether blood in the child’s diaper could be a natural event or caused by something other than child abuse. She said her research gave her cause to be concerned that William was sexually abusing her child.

[12] These allegations precipitated numerous very intrusive investigations by the police and the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto. The child was also taken to a number of doctors, including pediatricians, and doctors at the SCAN unit at Toronto’s Sick Children’s Hospital. All of the investigations concluded that the sexually abuse allegations not verified.

Allegation #1

[13] Ileana’s mother had been living with William and Ileana since early summer of 2011. This was on the invitation of William. He testified that he thought it would be proper if she lived with them in order to save her money for her retirement. After she moved in with them, William, Ileana and her mother and the child all went to Romania in order for William and the child to meet Ileana’s family. Shortly after their return from Romania in the second week of September, 2011, just as William’s post graduate studies began, Ileana accused William of being a pedophile, a wolf, a homosexual and according to William being inhabited by demons.

[14] Ileana testified that she came to the conclusion that he was a pedophile and homosexual because of many concerning events that took place from the time that the child was 2 months old. Ileana stated that she would find the baby in his crib with a white substance in his ear. She insisted that the substance smelled like sperm. She also attended on a number of occasions when the baby had vomited and she stated that the vomit smelled like sperm.

[15] Ileana further asserted in her testimony that on more than one occasion she saw her husband with his penis in the child’s mouth. On multiple occasions she saw him putting his fingers in the child’s mouth and the child’s fingers in his mouth moving them in and out. She claimed that the child would then be seen by her putting cheese sticks in his mouth and moving them in and out. Ileana was obviously inferring that William was modeling the child for oral sex. Ileana also stated that William would often wear shorts in the winter in their condo with no underwear. She stated that she would often see him either laying on the lazy boy chair or the couch with the child placed on his genital area. She stated that she caught him numerous times rubbing the child’s hand on his penis. She asserted that when she confronted him he would rush to the other room and when she followed him she would see him with an erection.

[16] Ileana stated that despite all of these events she was not certain what the problem was. She stated that she stayed with him and then married him in July 2011 as she continuously hoped that her husband would find religion and be healed.

[17] By September 2011 the intensity of the allegations by Ileana increased. The inter-family chaos that ensued led to a severe roller coaster ride of allegations, investigations, recantations and further allegations by Illeana.

[18] According to William, Ileana accused him of having affairs with every woman he came in contact with and she would scream at him as she brought her face within inches of his. William testified that he was at the point that he was going to leave and move back to British Columbia when Ileana called him and invited him back. He stated that she was very nice and sweet and loving to him. He agreed to stay. Within a very short time Ileana was once again calling him a pedophile, homosexual and she insisted that he needed to let Jesus into his heart so he could fix him.

[19] In April or May, 2011, according to William, both Ileana and her mother accused him of sexually abusing their child WTG. William stated that he immediately insisted that they all attend at the child pediatrician, Dr. Besu. William stated that he drove his child, Ileana and her mother to the doctor’s office. He stated that he waited in the car for the police to come. He waited 2 hours and the police did not come. After talking to the doctor nothing further transpired that night and William drove everyone home from Etobicoke to Scarborough. The Children’s Aid Society came to interview both William and Ileana separately they were notified by Dr. Besu as a result of his mandatory reporting obligations pursuant to the Child and Family Services Act.

[20] The Children’s Aid worker also spent time alone with the child WTG. The investigation concluded with the conclusion that the sexual abuse allegations were not verified.

[21] According to William Ileana recanted her allegations and signed a waiver to the CAS stating that she drew improper conclusions that were unfair and not true. She claimed that she was influenced by television. Ileana denied this in her testimony at trial. However, this recantation was noted in the CAS file and reported to the assessor Dr. Sutton.

[22] Shortly after the investigations, William stated that Ileana once again turned into a nice loving and sweet person. Once again that persona was short lived.

Allegation # 2

[23] In September of 2011, the Children’s Aid Society received another call about a sexual abuse allegation made by Ileana against William. Ileana had contacted the pastor of their church, Reverend Dash of Liberty Grace church in Toronto. Once again the allegations made by Ileana were not verified.

[24] According to William the pattern of Ileana swinging back and forth between being nice and loving to attacking and accusatory continued through the balance of 2011 and much of 2012.

Assault Charges Against Ileana

[25] In October, 2012, according to William, Ileana’s extremely erratic behavior intensified both with respect to the type of behavior and the frequency. On October 16, 2012, William stated that he was preparing to give a speech at the Liberty Grace Church and was studying in his bedroom. When he came out of his bedroom, Ileana accused him of going to visit his girlfriend and using the speech as an excuse. William stated that Ileana grabbed a pair of scissors and lunged at him with them. As she was coming closer to him with the scissors, her mother grabbed her arm and held her back. William reported this incident to the police and Ileana was arrested and charged with assault and assault with a weapon.

[26] Detective Merza testified that he investigated this incident and took a video statement of William under oath. He was satisfied that there was sufficient evidence to charge Ileana with the charges of assault and Assault with a weapon. He stated that he tried to speak to Ileana as he knew she was very emotional. However when he did speak to her he described her conduct as being very irrational and concerning. She was crying and shouting and pacing around the room. She was not making a lot of logical sense and she was continually making accusations that her husband was a child molester. Detective Stewart was concerned enough with Ileana’s behavior that he noted that she should get an assessment for mental health issues and treatment as prescribed as part of any bail conditions.

[27] William also testified that on October 30, 2012, Ileana accused him of going out with his mistress. According to William she screamed at him and told him he was committing adultery. She then proceeded to punch him in the jaw in front of the child. William called the police and they attended at the home and interviewed each of them separately. Ileana was charged with assaulting William.

[28] Ileana was placed on terms of a recognizance of bail. She had to live with a surety who was a member of her new Romanian Church. Ileana could not communicate with William either directly or indirectly.

[29] That case was eventually dealt with by the charges being withdrawn with Ileana entering into a peace bond. According to the terms of the peace bond, Illeana was not to contact William or communicate with him directly or indirectly.

[30] Illeana testified that she did send him emails. These emails were during the time she was not allowed to contact or communicate. She stated that the emails were passages from the bible that she felt would help him and therefore she did not feel she was breaching any court order. She also admitted that she attended the home William and her son were residing at despite the court order. She stated that she was just bringing her child food as she felt he would need it. Once again she stated that she did not feel that she was disobeying any court order. Ileana has been charged with breaching her recognizance.

Allegation # 3

[31] After the above mentioned charges were laid and bail conditions entered into by Ileana, William lived in the matrimonial home with the child WTG. Ileana had supervised access to her son. William stated that on one occasion Ileana’s mother begged him to let the child visit with her and Ileana overnight at the home of Ileana’s surety. William agreed to this arrangement. Instead of the child being returned on the agreed time at Sunday after church, William was visited by the police who told him that more sexual abuse allegations had been made by Ileana that he was sexually abusing his child and until the investigation was complete, the child would remain with Ileana.

[32] Ileana was staying at the Simut family home. Ana Simut testified that while Ileana had been in her home with the child, she brought the child to her and pulled his pants and underwear down in order that she could see that the child’s anus was red. Subsequently the police were called and the Children’s Aid Society investigated allegations of sexual abuse. That investigation concluded, once again with there being no verification that the child was sexually abused. Despite this, Ileana refused to give up the child to William. Justice Czutrin granted an ex parte Order giving custody of WTG to William. The child has been in William’s custody ever since.

Allegation # 4

[33] The order of Justice Czutrin provided that access to Ileana over the Christmas period of 2012 was to be specific and brief. Ileana’s mother was not to be present during the access except for the access that was to take place at Ileana’s church on December 23, 2012. At that access, Ileana testified that she brought her child to go to the washroom. According to her the child said he had go “pee” urgently. After he finished, she brought him over to the sink area and held him up to the sink in order to wash him. While washing him, she noticed that his bum was “red” and anus was actually “raw”. She became so concerned that she got her mother and one of her access supervisors, Denise Dorsett, to come and see. She brought the child back into the washroom and once again took the child’s pants down to show her mother and Denise. She stated that she slightly spread his bum cheeks in order for everyone to see what the problem was. She claimed that the child was not bothered in any way by either investigation. She did not contact CAS or the police on this occasion.

[34] Denise Dorsett testified that she agreed to supervise access in order that Ileana could see her son over Christmas. Her version of the events of December 23 were slightly different form Ileana’s. She stated that she went into the washroom with Ileana and that Ileana did not bring the child over to the sink to wash him. According to her, Ileana brought the child over to the sink area in order to show her something. She immediately took his pants and underwear down and spread the child’s buttock cheeks in order that Ms. Dorsett could see the child’s anus. Ms. Dorsett stated that she felt the anus was red and that that was not normal.

[35] Neither Ms. Dorsett nor Ileana made any complaint to the Society or the police on that night.

[36] Ileana had her access on December 25, 2012. She received the child at a coffee shop. Her mother was not supposed to be at that access. She attended anyway. While at that restaurant, Ileana brought the child into the washroom with her mother and Denise Dorsett. She claimed that when she was tucking his undershirt into his pants she had his pants down sufficiently that she could see that his bum was again raw. She held the child over her knee facing away from her. Her mother stood in front of the child to ensure the child did not fall. Denise stood beside Ileana. Ileana stated that she spread his bum cheeks with one hand and took pictures of his anus with the other. According to Ileana, her mother and Ms. Dorsett just watched. The pictures were close up pictures of the child’s anus and what she called to be some scratching of the bum cheek.

[37] Ms. Dorsett testified that Ileana’s mother spread the child’s bum cheeks while Ileana took the pictures. Ms. Dorsett did not feel that anything was wrong with what was being done. She felt that the child did not seem to be bothered by the investigations.

[38] The child, Denise, Ileana and her mother proceeded to take a bus to get to the subway. At some point Denise received a call to point out that Ileana’s mother was not supposed to be at the access and if she stayed the access would end. Ileana’s mother left and Denise, Ileana and the child then road the subway for more than an hour. When they returned early to drop the child off at the coffee shop, they stopped at a restaurant to get some Chinese food. The visit ended with the child being transferred by Denise to the father at the prescribed time.

[39] Ileana stated that she was not staying with her surety that night she had alternating staying there as required by her recognizance and another friend, the Simut family who lived very near William. According to Ileana it was more than 100 metres away. That would make her in compliance with the bail terms. When she was at the Simut home, she contacted crime stoppers and told them that she had pictures that showed her child had been sexually abused. She did that anonymously. She later contacted the police and told them what she had told crime stoppers.

[40] On or about December 26, 2012 at approximately 3 or 4 in the morning the police attended at William’s home. William stated that 5 police officers attended the home. They informed him that there were further sex abuse allegations and they were taking WGT to Sick Children’s Hospital to be examined by the SCAN unit.

[41] This 3 year old child was taken from his father in the middle of the night. There were at least 5 police officers, and 3 or more emergency workers present. William was not allowed to accompany the child. The child was taken to the hospital and had, yet another examination of his buttock and annul area. The child was once again returned to his father, sexual abuse was not verified. I find that the mother showed no evidence throughout her testimony that the multiple examinations of her child had or could have a negative impact on her child. The events of December 15 and 16, 2012 are shocking. The extent of the trauma to the child cannot be measured easily. William testified that the child was fearful on return and had nightmares. He was clingy to him and often tearful.

Detective Allen

[42] Detective Allen was one of the investigating officers who investigated one of Ileana’s allegations in the first part of November 2012. She testified that Ileana presented to her as overwhelmed and having a hard time dealing with all of the incidents she alleged pointed to her husband sexually abusing her son. She repeated much of the litany of allegations referred to above, such as seeing semen in the child’s ear and seeing her husband getting an erection while rubbing the child’s hand on his penis She knew this from the smell. Detective Allen stated that at one point Ileana stated that she was dreaming about the sex abuse happening. Ileana denied that she ever mentioned to Detective Allen that she was dreaming.

Children’s Aid Society Involvement

[43] Michelle Henry was the Society worker who was assigned to this case on October 1, 2012. She attended at a transfer meeting and reviewed the file of all of the Society’s previous involvement. Ms. Henry submitted a report of the Society’s involvement dated July 19, 2012, pursuant to the direction of Justice Czutrin.

[44] Ms. Henry stated that there had been a number of allegations that Illeana had made that her husband had sexually abused her son. All of the allegations had been investigated and none of the sexual abuse claims were verified by the Society.

[45] The Society’s concern was that the ongoing conflict and persistent claims by the mother of sexual abuse was having a serious negative impact on the child. After Ms. Henry returned from her Christmas vacation in 2012, she learned that Ileana had made yet another allegation of sexual abuse. This time she took photos of the child’s buttock and anus with an IPod camera. Ms. Henry became aware that the investigation by the police, SCAN unit at Sick Children’s and the Society did not verify sexual abuse.

[46] Ms. Henry testified that she felt that these multiple of investigations were very traumatic to the child. She was advised by the father that the child was having nightmares after the incident. She stated that the Society’s concerns elevated after this. Their position was that the child was being emotionally abused. At this point all access to Ileana was suspended.

[47] Ms. Henry continued to monitor the child who was in the sole custody of the father. She observed that between the first time she saw the child in October of 2012 and the present time, the child was completely different. She testified that when she first saw the child, he was very introverted and would not even engage her. Over time, this changed. The child is not socially engaging with adults and children and is in all respects developmentally appropriate.

[48] Throughout 2013, Ileana continued to call the Society and make complaints about the care the child was receiving with his father. Sometimes she or her mother would call “anonymously”. However, given the same historical information that was provided by the caller, the society concluded that it had to be either Ileana or her mother. Complaints varied between the father drinking excessively to the child not being given the proper food.

[49] Ileana told Ms. Henry that she went to see a psychiatrist, Dr. Kim. According to Ileana he told her that she did not have a problem. Ms. Henry told her to go to get counseling from Family Services. Soon after that referral, Family Services reported to the Society that Ileana made further allegations of sexual abuse against her husband.

[50] The Society takes the position that none of the allegations are warranted and Ileana needs to get help for her “obsession” that her son is being sexually abused by his father. Ileana went to see Dr. Kim, a psychiatrist. He saw her at the request of Ileana’s then lawyer, Ms. Cho. Dr. Kim testified in a voir dire in order to determine if he would be qualified as an expert witness. Ms. Cho wrote to Dr. Kim stating that her client needed to get therapy for a “delusional disorder” that was the diagnosis of the assessor, Dr. Sutton. Ms. Cho stated in her letter to Dr. Kim that her client may not be able to see her child again if she did not get therapy in order to deal with her diagnosis. Dr. Kim saw Ileana, at first, in order to assess her mental capacity and determine if she had a mental disorder that needed treatment. He determined that her diagnosis was not delusional disorder. He diagnosed her with obsessive compulsive disorder. Dr. Kim started Ileana on a course of treatment as of June 4, 2013. On June 4 he prescribed certain medications. Subsequent to June 4, 2013 he saw her on other occasions in his capacity as a therapist. Dr. Kim then proceeded to write a critique of Dr. Sutton’s assessment report and Illeana sought to call him as an expert.

[51] I ruled that Dr. Kim could not testify. I found that he did not have sufficient experience, education and training in child psychiatry and custody and access assessments in order to offer an opinion. I also found that Dr. Kim crossed boundaries that he should not have crossed. Once he entered into a therapeutic relationship with Ileana, he could no longer have sufficient objectivity in order to provide neutral expert testimony that the court requires from expert witnesses. (I gave oral reasons at the completion of the voir dire).

[52] Ileana had sworn an affidavit on the 17th day of July 2013 stating that she had undertaken a course of therapy with Dr. Kim. She further stated that as a result of that therapy she now understood that she was wrongly accusing her husband of sexual abuse. Despite that sworn affidavit, Ileana’s insistence on the fact that her husband has been sexually abusing the child increased in severity and frequency. She adamantly took the position throughout this trial that William had sexually abused her child since WTG was 2 months old. She further asserted that all of the investigations by the Society, police, and SCAN were not done properly. She testified at trial that the child should have been given a Culpascope investigation. She asserted that was the only way to accurately determine that the child was sexually abused. In addition, she stated that the SCAN unit at the Hospital for Sick Children did not have an expert in sexual abuse. She stated t