Watch the video and be the judge.
https://www.torontosun.com/2013/09/06/elderly-womans-mistreatment-should-go-before-courts
Not only must justice be done; it must also be seen to be done.
If only that was true.
The well-worn legal adage has been given a very post-modern twist by Pe****orough police, who decided not to charge anyone in relation to the shocking treatment of an 85-year-old nursing home patient.
Their attitude appears to be one of “Yeah, whatever.” I guess it’s shorter and more to the point, but that doesn’t help expose the truth.
It’s not as if any of the allegations of mistreatment made against the St. Joseph’s at Fleming care facility are murky or, in my opinion, at least beyond testing in an open court of law.
Look at the video. See for yourself.
How can any reasonable person not watch that and feel revulsion as one of our community’s most vulnerable members is treated like a sack of meat.
Worse still is the fact that we live in an age where we can face police prosecution for crimes and misdemeanours ranging from jaywalking to driving at 10 km/h over the speed limit, yet see somebody appear to mishandle a patient and nothing is done to hold anyone to account.
Camille Parent, whose hidden camera in his mother’s room recorded the incidents in the spring, said he felt sick to the stomach when he first viewed the images.
He now feels even sicker because nobody seems interested in pursuing the matter further.
“My mother was there in special care for a broken hip she suffered earlier this year at the same place,” Parent told the Toronto Sun Friday. “She also sustained a black eye in a different, unrelated incident.
“When I started to suspect there was something wrong with the way she was being cared for, I placed the camera in her room and now the whole world can see what I see.
“If the treatment of my mother was bad enough for four people to be fired, then why aren’t police interested in establishing the truth and seeing that justice is done for any potential act of alleged criminal behaviour?
“This just looks like the employees have all the rights to protection and not the frail and vulnerable in their care,” he said.
A message left with facility CEO Paul O’Krafka seeking comment was not returned.
City police spokesman Const. Keith Calderwood confirmed Thursday that police would not be intervening. That was restated again Friday.
In pure legal terms police feel they have nowhere to go with a prosecution.
“On review of all the evidence collected it was our opinion that the investigation was lacking in criminal intent, one of the elements required for a charge of assault in the Criminal Code of Canada,” a spokesman said.
Still, the aggravated manner in which the feces-covered wipe cloth is waved in the face of Camille Parent’s mother is hardly the look of a fond farewell.
Her response to push it away shows to some observers that she was defending herself against the nurse.
Then there is the image that has been released of the mother with an unexplained black eye that would cause many people to wonder just why police are so keen to tell the public there’s nothing to be seen here.
“It is not good enough,” is how Parent summed up his feelings late Friday. “We are always told that the elderly are not alone, they should not fear being alone and somebody is always there to help them.
“Well, here I have video evidence of my mother in peril yet nobody will listen to me. What do I have to do to get anyone to take action?
“Will nobody speak up for the people who can’t speak for themselves?”
https://www.torontosun.com/2013/09/06/elderly-womans-mistreatment-should-go-before-courts
Not only must justice be done; it must also be seen to be done.
If only that was true.
The well-worn legal adage has been given a very post-modern twist by Pe****orough police, who decided not to charge anyone in relation to the shocking treatment of an 85-year-old nursing home patient.
Their attitude appears to be one of “Yeah, whatever.” I guess it’s shorter and more to the point, but that doesn’t help expose the truth.
It’s not as if any of the allegations of mistreatment made against the St. Joseph’s at Fleming care facility are murky or, in my opinion, at least beyond testing in an open court of law.
Look at the video. See for yourself.
How can any reasonable person not watch that and feel revulsion as one of our community’s most vulnerable members is treated like a sack of meat.
Worse still is the fact that we live in an age where we can face police prosecution for crimes and misdemeanours ranging from jaywalking to driving at 10 km/h over the speed limit, yet see somebody appear to mishandle a patient and nothing is done to hold anyone to account.
Camille Parent, whose hidden camera in his mother’s room recorded the incidents in the spring, said he felt sick to the stomach when he first viewed the images.
He now feels even sicker because nobody seems interested in pursuing the matter further.
“My mother was there in special care for a broken hip she suffered earlier this year at the same place,” Parent told the Toronto Sun Friday. “She also sustained a black eye in a different, unrelated incident.
“When I started to suspect there was something wrong with the way she was being cared for, I placed the camera in her room and now the whole world can see what I see.
“If the treatment of my mother was bad enough for four people to be fired, then why aren’t police interested in establishing the truth and seeing that justice is done for any potential act of alleged criminal behaviour?
“This just looks like the employees have all the rights to protection and not the frail and vulnerable in their care,” he said.
A message left with facility CEO Paul O’Krafka seeking comment was not returned.
City police spokesman Const. Keith Calderwood confirmed Thursday that police would not be intervening. That was restated again Friday.
In pure legal terms police feel they have nowhere to go with a prosecution.
“On review of all the evidence collected it was our opinion that the investigation was lacking in criminal intent, one of the elements required for a charge of assault in the Criminal Code of Canada,” a spokesman said.
Still, the aggravated manner in which the feces-covered wipe cloth is waved in the face of Camille Parent’s mother is hardly the look of a fond farewell.
Her response to push it away shows to some observers that she was defending herself against the nurse.
Then there is the image that has been released of the mother with an unexplained black eye that would cause many people to wonder just why police are so keen to tell the public there’s nothing to be seen here.
“It is not good enough,” is how Parent summed up his feelings late Friday. “We are always told that the elderly are not alone, they should not fear being alone and somebody is always there to help them.
“Well, here I have video evidence of my mother in peril yet nobody will listen to me. What do I have to do to get anyone to take action?
“Will nobody speak up for the people who can’t speak for themselves?”
