Mom says she warned Metis CFS years before her children's foster father was charged with sexual abuse

The mother of two boys who allegedly suffered years of sexual abuse at the hands of their foster father says she reported the man to Manitoba's MetisChild, Family and Community Services Agencyyears before they left the foster home.

The biological mother says she notified a Metis CFSworker in 2012 after her son, who was six years old at the time, said the Winnipeg foster father was showing pornography to him and his three-year-old brother.

"Families seem so powerless when it comes to CFS that if they bring those allegations forward, what's going to happen? Nothing," the mom said.

"It's like these people are supposed to be protecting our children from us, but yetthey do more damage to our children than we could ever do to our kids."

In July 2018, the foster father, who was contracted through the for-profit B & LResources for Children, Youth and Families, was charged with sexual assault, sexual interference and assault.

Police allege in court documents he showed the boys pornography starting in 2012, assaulted one of them with a hammer and uttered threats. The alleged abuse occurred between 2009 and 2015, according to court documents.

The Winnipeg man's lawyer says his client denies the charges.

The children's mother says the only thing that changed after her disclosure to MetisCFSwasthat the foster father stopped attending her visits with the boys.

"I'm assuming that something was obviously said, but nothing was done," said the mother.

Her sons lived with the foster family from 2009 until 2015, but it wasn't until her sons came back to live with her in the summer of 2017 that she learned of additional sex abuse allegations, which she immediately reported to police.

B & L under review byprovince

When asked about the mother's disclosure, Metis CFS Authority CEO Billie Schibler said she is not at liberty to discuss confidential information about families and children.

"However, I can assure you that had any information been brought forward of concerns of this nature, they would have been reported to the All Nations Coordinated Response Network immediately and looked into," saidSchibler, who speaks for the entireMetisCFSsystem.

ANCRis responsible for investigating abuse allegations on behalf of Child and Family Services agencies in the Winnipeg region.

"We take these matters very seriously as these types of concerns are considered child abuse," Schibler said.

When asked about the mother's disclosure to Metis CFS, All Nations Coordinated Response Network CEO Sandie Stoker said she can'tcomment on specific cases because of confidentiality rules under the CFS Act.

B & L Resources for Children, Youth and Families, which contracted the foster father and his wife, is currently under review by the province, following a CBC investigation that revealedchildren were left in the same home as a minor who was sexually abusing themeven after those allegations emerged.

In that case, a biological parent told CBC they had brought concerns of sexual abuse to a worker withMetis CFS whichhired B & L to recruit and supervise foster homesmonths before the company separated the children from their abuser.

Part of the province's review of B & L will include speaking to every child infoster homes managed by the company, a process the province said on Tuesdaywas complete.

The mother of the children who were allegedly abused by the foster father is not confident that approach will weed out problems.

"Hearing that kids are going to be interviewed I don't think that's good enough," she said.

She was actively involved with her children while they were in foster care, the woman said, but they didn't disclose abuse allegations until they were back home with her.

"They're too scared" to open up because ofwhat could happen when they return to thefoster home,she said.

'I've done everything to clean up their mess'

The managing director of B & L, Bruce Bertrand-Meadows, did not respond to an interview request. In November, he said provincial legislation and professional ethics prevent him from discussing any individual case.

He did confirm the foster parents have not been with B & L since the spring of 2016.

"No allegations/concerns of the nature you indicated came to our attention prior to their departure from our organization," Bertrand-Meadows said in an emailed statement.

"We are denying the charges absolutely and we are setting this down for trial. From our perspective, there is no basis at all for the charges," Amado Claros, the foster father's lawyer, said in November. The man's next court date is Dec. 13.

The mother says she decided to speak up because her faith in the foster care system is shaken.

"How do we know that this shit isn't going on everywhere else?" she said.

Her sons are in now in counselling, something she says she arranged on her own, without help from other agencies.

"I've done everything to clean up their mess."

Parent comes forward with allegations they warned Metis CFS of abuse in foster homes

6 years ago

Duration 1:45

The mother of two boys who were allegedly sexually abused in foster care says she warned Metis CFS about possible abuse in 2012 but the boys remained in the home.

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