CORNER BROOK, N.L. — A 13-year-old has been given a conditional discharge of 18 months for assaulting and damaging property belonging to social workers and fellow residents at a group home in western Newfoundland.
The boy was convicted of three counts of assault and two counts of damaging property.
No one was physically hurt in any of the incidents and the boy has no prior convictions.
Judge Wayne Gorman, in a written decision on the boy’s case, indicated the youth has had a tumultuous upbringing that included physical and emotional abuse by his own family and a series of placements in group and foster homes.
The offences all took place during an eight-day period in the spring of 2018.
In one incident, he grabbed the arm of an employee who had intervened when the youth was spraying other residents with a Swiffer mop. Two days later, he grabbed the shoulder of an employee in an attempt to take a flashlight from her.
Two days after that, he damaged a CD belonging to a resident by bending it and urinating on it.
Finally, he damaged a window wiper on a vehicle belonging to a social worker and also spat in the worker’s face.
A pre-sentence report done for the court suggested the boy be placed in a secure custody facility such as the Whitbourne youth correctional facility
Gorman said he could not accept that because no one of the offences involved bodily harm or endangerment. He felt a discharge would be a better way to help rehabilitate the boy’s aggressive behavior.
Gorman said the boy must not have any communication with the victims of his offences, but must write letters of apology to them. The youth must also reside in a place designated by his youth court worker and attend any counselling the worker recommends.
