Assault on CAS Worker (maybe)

November 23, 2007 permalink

In the following story the perpetrator and victim are both unnamed, so we cannot tell whether it is a fake planted by children's aid to draw sympathy or the story of a mother acting on the animal instinct to guard her children from harm through force if necessary.

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Everyone a little more aware at Children's Aid Society

Date: 2007-11-23, By Lauren Gilchrist

They get threats. There are assaults.

Hugh Nicholson, executive director of the Kawartha Haliburton Children's Aid Society (CAS), says at times the organization's work is dangerous.

That is no more evident than following a recent assault on a CAS worker.

A 34-year-old woman, armed with a pair of barber scissors, is charged after allegedly grabbing a Children's Aid Society worker by the hair.

According to City police, on Wednesday (Nov. 21) at approximately 12:15 p.m. the accused went to the Children's Aid Society offices on Chemong Road. When there, she asked to speak to a worker concerning her child's child care issues. She asked to speak to the victim, a Children's Aid Society worker. The victim, a 42-year-old female, was paged to come to the lobby. When the victim asked the accused how she could help her, the accused allegedly grabbed the victim by the hair with her left hand while armed with a pair of barber scissors in her right hand. While the victim struggled to get free, the accused allegedly grabbed the victim's right arm and left index finger. Several staff members came to the aid of the victim and were able to wrestle the scissors away from the accused and separate the two women.

A day after the incident, Mr. Nicholson says the staff are still on edge.

“A little nervous and concerned about the person that was assaulted. She is home today [Thursday] taking a bit of a break before she comes back in,” he says.

“It makes everyone here more aware of the dangers involved in child protection. It just reminds us all we need to be very careful about it.”

Mr. Nicholson says a staff member was seriously assaulted roughly a year ago.

“It was an assault on one of our staff who came out to supervise a visit between a mother and her child,” he explains.

Mr. Nicholson says every time an incident like this happens they learn something.

“We have pretty good security measures and they worked well in this instance,” he says, referring to Wednesday's alleged assault.

He notes one measure is the panic buttons located in areas where clients are in contact with staff.

“The area itself is pretty secure,” he explains, noting there is also a protocol in place once the panic button is pressed.

“Although this incident was unfortunate, it was terminated very quickly. But there are improvements I think we can make to it.”

He says there is an emergency health and safety meeting scheduled for Monday (Nov. 26) where staff can put forward suggestions.

The accused was arrested and charge with possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and assault with a weapon. The victim was treated at the hospital for her injuries. The name of the accused will not be released in order to protect her child's identity.

Source: mykawartha.com, Metroland Media Group