Canada: Man raped by inmates during 'scared straight' prison tour awarded $175K

[Independent voter]

I don't think that's how the program is meant to work.

Do you think the 'scared straight' program works?






https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...ward-1.4934363

The B.C. government has been ordered to pay at least $175,000 to a man who was raped by several inmates during a "scared straight" tour of Oakalla Prison four decades ago.

The victim, known by the initials B.E.S. in court documents, was a teenager when he was forced to visit the Burnaby prison in the late 1970s. The tour was one of the terms of his probation for break and enter — a sort of "scared straight" form of sentencing to deter teens from committing crimes in the future, the judge told his parents.

He laid out what happened next during an appearance in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver earlier this year.

Ex-inmate launches suit against B.C., guard
Now 54, B.E.S. testified that a prison guard "grabbed him" when he arrived at Oakalla and led him to a cell where a group of inmates was waiting. The men tried to force him to perform oral sex and then took turns raping him, according to court documents.

He said the guard stood at the door, laughing, while he was sexually assaulted. When it was all over, B.E.S. said the guard pushed him against the wall and said, "That's what happens to little f--kers like you."


Before it was demolished, Oakalla Prison overlooked Deer Lake Park in Burnaby. (B.C. Ministry of Justice)
In a judgment handed down Tuesday, Justice Jennifer Duncan found that B.E.S. had, in fact, been sexually assaulted by a number of inmates at Oakalla, thanks to the actions of an unknown corrections officer.

"The province is vicariously liable for the actions of the unknown officer," Duncan wrote, awarding B.E.S. $150,000 in damages and $25,000 for the cost of future care, as well as his legal costs.

"The sexual assault of B.E.S. was a single event, but it was brutal, and I accept that it continues to have an impact on his day-to-day functioning well into adulthood," the judge said.

Top court cuts compensation to inmate sexually abused by prison officer
She added that the award could grow in the weeks to come — special and punitive damages will be determined at another court date, yet to be scheduled.

Was guard convicted of sexual assault involved?
But the judge rejected B.E.S.'s argument that the guard responsible was Roderick David MacDougall, a former officer at the long-shuttered prison who has been convicted of multiple sexual assaults against inmates. Over the years, dozens of civil suits have been filed against MacDougall for his abuse of prisoners.

When B.E.S. filed his own lawsuit, he named MacDougall as the officer responsible for what happened to him.

BBC documentary examines Burnaby prison's plastic surgery program
But his lawyer offered little evidence for that, other than the fact that MacDougall is a convicted sex offender who worked at Oakalla at the time of the assault.

"It is apparent that B.E.S. became aware of Mr. MacDougall through a counsellor he was seeing. B.E.S. candidly agreed that he 'assumed' Mr. MacDougall was the escort officer, based on information from his counsellor," Duncan wrote.

Victim had 'happy childhood' before assault
B.E.S. grew up in Coquitlam and had a "normal and happy childhood" in the years before the prison tour, according to the judgment.

His life took a turn when he started middle school in Grade 8 and made new friends. When he was 13 or 14, he and some friends broke into a home on a dare. They stole a TV and drank orange juice from the refrigerator.

It was not a successful heist. The police arrived almost immediately and arrested all the children and drove them home to their angry parents. B.E.S. was banned from hanging out with that group of friends.

His parents agreed to a tour of Oakalla as part of his sentence for the break-in.


Oakalla closed its doors in 1991 to make way for a housing development. (B.C. Ministry of Justice)
The court heard that between the years of 1978 and 1981, the youth tour program at Oakalla was unstructured and the visits varied from child to child, depending on the whims of the supervising guard. Teenagers were locked in dark isolation cells, cat-called by inmates and subjected to other forms of verbal abuse.

"The foregoing features of a supposedly educational program are shocking in today's context, where there is a heightened awareness that sexual assault in general, and against children in particular, is an insidious social problem," Duncan wrote in her judgment.

Lasting psychological harm
In B.E.S.'s case, a female probation officer picked him up at home and drove him to the prison, where she handed him off to the unknown guard.

She drove him home again after the assault, apparently unaware of what had happened. B.E.S. says he told her nothing about the attack.

Ex-prisoner wins lawsuit against guard
The assault left him bleeding and in pain for at least a week. He didn't speak of what happened to his parents or his friends, and all of his personal relationships were strained, according to the decision.

In the decades since the assault, B.E.S. has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, personality disorder, major depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and an addiction to cocaine.

Oakalla Prison closed its doors in 1991 and was demolished to make way for a housing development.

"Scared straight" programs took youth considered to be at risk of committing crimes on organized prison tours to deter them from offending in the future by providing a first-hand look at what life behind bars would be like. Adult inmates serving life sentences would often speak to youth in an intimidating, abusive manner as part of the program.

[Unholyground]

Was I the only one who though it was like "pray the gay away"? lol

[The One Percent]

He deserves more money, but at least it's something. Too bad he didn't kill a US soldier, maybe the Canadian government would have awarded him more.

[Contego]

Was I the only one who though it was like "pray the gay away"? lol

Lmao, I can never read "scared straight" the same way again.

[Puri]

4 decades later? Isn't there a limitation period on such crimes in Canada?
And how did they conclude he was actually raped? Have there been recordings from then? Any witness who testified? A doctor's record? And why sue 40 years later?

[Thage]

Do I think it works? Not really. Same as DARE not really working: the more some guy in uniform tells you "Don't do the thing," the more teenagers (by rote of being contrarian as it is) are going to try to do the thing just to push the envelope and flaunt authority. Go to any jail, and ask any rando in there if they thought they were gonna get caught. Odds are they'll say no, because if they thought they were gonna get caught and go to jail why the hell would they commit the crime?

There's also the inherent risk of the prisoners involved taking advantage, especially if the program brings in lifers who have nothing to lose (while these programs usually pick cooperative prisoners with a clean record, it should be obvious that there's always a wide margin for error, especially in counties where the criminal justice system is either lax or corrupt enough to let the prisoners get physical with the program attendees). After all, what's going to happen, they get another sentence on top of their life sentences?

Y'know what does work? Therapy. Someone who listens to why the kid's acting out and committing crimes, and works with them on constructive ways to channel and redirect those impulses. Throwing them to the proverbial wolves doesn't do anything but let grown-ass men and women feel better by screaming, shouting, and asserting power and authority over a bunch of dumb-ass kids.

[smityx]

I don't think that's how the program is meant to work.

Do you think the 'scared straight' program works?






https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...ward-1.4934363

The B.C. government has been ordered to pay at least $175,000 to a man who was raped by several inmates during a "scared straight" tour of Oakalla Prison four decades ago.

The victim, known by the initials B.E.S. in court documents, was a teenager when he was forced to visit the Burnaby prison in the late 1970s. The tour was one of the terms of his probation for break and enter — a sort of "scared straight" form of sentencing to deter teens from committing crimes in the future, the judge told his parents.

He laid out what happened next during an appearance in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver earlier this year.

Ex-inmate launches suit against B.C., guard
Now 54, B.E.S. testified that a prison guard "grabbed him" when he arrived at Oakalla and led him to a cell where a group of inmates was waiting. The men tried to force him to perform oral sex and then took turns raping him, according to court documents.

He said the guard stood at the door, laughing, while he was sexually assaulted. When it was all over, B.E.S. said the guard pushed him against the wall and said, "That's what happens to little f--kers like you."


Before it was demolished, Oakalla Prison overlooked Deer Lake Park in Burnaby. (B.C. Ministry of Justice)
In a judgment handed down Tuesday, Justice Jennifer Duncan found that B.E.S. had, in fact, been sexually assaulted by a number of inmates at Oakalla, thanks to the actions of an unknown corrections officer.

"The province is vicariously liable for the actions of the unknown officer," Duncan wrote, awarding B.E.S. $150,000 in damages and $25,000 for the cost of future care, as well as his legal costs.

"The sexual assault of B.E.S. was a single event, but it was brutal, and I accept that it continues to have an impact on his day-to-day functioning well into adulthood," the judge said.

Top court cuts compensation to inmate sexually abused by prison officer
She added that the award could grow in the weeks to come — special and punitive damages will be determined at another court date, yet to be scheduled.

Was guard convicted of sexual assault involved?
But the judge rejected B.E.S.'s argument that the guard responsible was Roderick David MacDougall, a former officer at the long-shuttered prison who has been convicted of multiple sexual assaults against inmates. Over the years, dozens of civil suits have been filed against MacDougall for his abuse of prisoners.

When B.E.S. filed his own lawsuit, he named MacDougall as the officer responsible for what happened to him.

BBC documentary examines Burnaby prison's plastic surgery program
But his lawyer offered little evidence for that, other than the fact that MacDougall is a convicted sex offender who worked at Oakalla at the time of the assault.

"It is apparent that B.E.S. became aware of Mr. MacDougall through a counsellor he was seeing. B.E.S. candidly agreed that he 'assumed' Mr. MacDougall was the escort officer, based on information from his counsellor," Duncan wrote.

Victim had 'happy childhood' before assault
B.E.S. grew up in Coquitlam and had a "normal and happy childhood" in the years before the prison tour, according to the judgment.

His life took a turn when he started middle school in Grade 8 and made new friends. When he was 13 or 14, he and some friends broke into a home on a dare. They stole a TV and drank orange juice from the refrigerator.

It was not a successful heist. The police arrived almost immediately and arrested all the children and drove them home to their angry parents. B.E.S. was banned from hanging out with that group of friends.

His parents agreed to a tour of Oakalla as part of his sentence for the break-in.


Oakalla closed its doors in 1991 to make way for a housing development. (B.C. Ministry of Justice)
The court heard that between the years of 1978 and 1981, the youth tour program at Oakalla was unstructured and the visits varied from child to child, depending on the whims of the supervising guard. Teenagers were locked in dark isolation cells, cat-called by inmates and subjected to other forms of verbal abuse.

"The foregoing features of a supposedly educational program are shocking in today's context, where there is a heightened awareness that sexual assault in general, and against children in particular, is an insidious social problem," Duncan wrote in her judgment.

Lasting psychological harm
In B.E.S.'s case, a female probation officer picked him up at home and drove him to the prison, where she handed him off to the unknown guard.

She drove him home again after the assault, apparently unaware of what had happened. B.E.S. says he told her nothing about the attack.

Ex-prisoner wins lawsuit against guard
The assault left him bleeding and in pain for at least a week. He didn't speak of what happened to his parents or his friends, and all of his personal relationships were strained, according to the decision.

In the decades since the assault, B.E.S. has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, personality disorder, major depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and an addiction to cocaine.

Oakalla Prison closed its doors in 1991 and was demolished to make way for a housing development.

"Scared straight" programs took youth considered to be at risk of committing crimes on organized prison tours to deter them from offending in the future by providing a first-hand look at what life behind bars would be like. Adult inmates serving life sentences would often speak to youth in an intimidating, abusive manner as part of the program.

Was it Tom from Boondocks

[SinR]

Was it Tom from Boondocks

Boondocks was so awesome

[Lorgar Aurelian]

It Proabbly works on some kids, I know I was a stubborn bastard as a kid never really backing down but I also was just generally good so I never had any run ins with the law.

[Socialhealer]

175k what a joke.

[Korlok]

I don't think the issue is "scared straight" programs (not that I agree or disagree with them, haven't seen the data), the issue was the psychotic guard and the fact that even today, prison rape is tacitly accepted.

This, right here. Prison rape is not only tacitly accepted, but expected as part of the punishment for being incarcerated.
It's brutal, and shows the ugly side of our nature. People want to feel that those who are in jail or prison are getting their 'just desserts'.
Just having your freedom taken away and being placed in incarceration should be punishment enough, but deep down most people know that they WANT more punishment.

[d00mGuArD]

I don't think the issue is "scared straight" programs (not that I agree or disagree with them, haven't seen the data), the issue was the psychotic guard and the fact that even today, prison rape is tacitly accepted.

It is so accepted that often it is not even counted on statistics
I don't have any sympathy for prisoners, but no one should be raped. ever.

[The Stormbringer]

That doesn't seem like nearly enough compensation, geez. A shame that the prison wasn't still open so it would pay the fine.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

Imagine this shit happening and Canadians still trying to act morally superior to the US.

Buuuuullshit.

I mean this happend 40 years ago so it’s not really a good example if your trying to throw dirt at Canadians.

[Socialhealer]

Imagine this shit happening and Canadians still trying to act morally superior to the US.

Buuuuullshit.

to be fair in the US multiple men have probably been raped in prisons since this thread was opened.

But on the upside in the US he would have probably got 7 figures instead of 6!

[Kyphael]

175k to get my shit pushed in? I'll keep masculinity for life thank you.

[Coombs]

175k to get my shit pushed in? I'll keep masculinity for life thank you.

Add a zero and I'll take the man in my mouth and splash it on my chest with relish.

[Deleted]

Correct me if I'm wrong but 5 men taking turns isnt how you scare someone straight?

[Masark]

That doesn't seem like nearly enough compensation, geez. A shame that the prison wasn't still open so it would pay the fine.

175k what a joke.

175k is just the start. They haven't started assessing the punitive damages yet.

[The Stormbringer]

175k is just the start. They haven't started assessing the punitive damages yet.

Oh, okay. Thank you for the info!