LONDON, Ont. -- Ontario's highest court has upheld a local judge's decision and quashed an appeal by a child-welfare agency wanting to revive a protection order for three boys caught in a vicious divorce case.

But the Ontario Court of Appeal left it open for the cash-strapped Children's Aid Society of London and Middlesex to ask to appeal the $1.4-million legal tab slapped against it -- believed to be the largest ever levied against a child-welfare agency in Ontario -- after a mammoth trial that ran for 154 days.

The agency had made other headlines two years ago when it couldn't balance its books.

The trial lasted so long, ifrom October 2011 to May 2013, it caused major backlogs in family law cases in London, forcing the courts to prioritize child protection cases over divorce cases for months.

It was a nasty, mud-slinging affair that involved a mother found by the court to be manipulative and cunning, convincing child-welfare services her husband was an abusive monster.

The father, who was awarded custody of the sons, was able to show his wife was an alcoholic full of rage, and carried on two extra-marital affairs -- one with a co-worker, the other with a sports coach.

The child-welfare agency sided with the mother and her warped version of the truth, even when the three boys -- 15, 12 and 5 at the time of the trial -- tried to tell it about their mother's violence and lies.

The mother took the case into the criminal courts when she accused the oldest son of attempted murder, only to have it reduced to an assault conviction for "excessive self-defence" from his mother.

The lower court decision took aim at the mother, child welfare, the police, women's groups, a school board and the woman's employers who bought her story.

The Children's Aid Society submitted 146 grounds in support of its appeal on the merits of Superior Court Justice John Harper's decision, but the appeals court saw "no basis for declaring any of the children of the marriage ... to be children in need of protection," now or when the case began in September 2010.

The court said the merits of the appeal were "tenuous at best."

Harper said the kids didn't need protection from their father, but would if placed with their mother.

There was no evidence of any current protection concerns since the kids were placed with the father, the appeals court said. "This court is left with the Society's bald assertion of unspecified, current concerns about the children..."

Still outstanding is the CAS appeal on costs and the mother's appeal of the divorce judgment. She's on the hook for 30% of the $2 million in court costs, or $604,478.36.
The appeals court decision could accelerate the settlement of those issues.

The father's lawyer, Hamoody Hassan, said the boys are "living happily at home with their dad" and
"we're happy that the decision of Justice Harper was appreciated and understood."

The decision "basically means that (the father) and his children are not being investigated by the Children's Aid," he said.

The CAS was ordered to pay $7,500 in court costs for the appeal.


Source:
sunnewsnetwork.ca/canada/