School staff wrestled with 'anxiety and dread' before emaciated teen's rescue
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staff → wrestle → rescue
Victim impact statements detail lead-up to discovery of student's shocking confinement
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statements → detail → confinement
This story contains graphic details about child abuse and animal abuse.
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story → contain → abuse
Staff at an Ottawa school who called on police to do the wellness check that led to the rescue of a severely malnourished 18-year-old earlier this year did so after months of "suffocating anxiety and dread" about the growing absence of the complex-needs student.
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that → call → student
They also contacted police because when they had previously reached out to the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa (CASO), when the teen was a minor, the school was "dissatisfied" with CASO's response, a courtroom heard this week.
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courtroom → contact → response
"I knew something wasn't right," one school employee said in court about the days, weeks and months that passed without the teen coming to school.
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teen → know → school
Another recalled that after a distressing update from the teen's mother, she lay awake at night "haunted by thoughts of what he was enduring.
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he → recall → what
"
"Something in our system needs to change so that there are checks and balances so that [vulnerable students] cannot just disappear," she added.
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she → need → system
CASO said it doesn't comment on specific cases or actions taken, citing confidentiality.
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it → say → confidentiality
"However, we can assure you that every report concerning the safety and well-being of a child is carefully assessed through a child protection and safety lens," the organization said in an email to CBC News on Friday.
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organization → assure → Friday
"The Society's priority is always the evaluation of potential risk to a child, and all concerns are reviewed and responded to in accordance with applicable child protection standards, legislation and professional practices.
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concerns → review → standards
On Tuesday, the teen's mother pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing bodily harm, failing to provide the necessaries of life, and failing to care for a family cat that was found dead by the teen's bedside.
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that → plead → bedside
The judge sentenced her to nine years in prison for the first conviction and shorter concurrent sentences for the other two.
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judge → sentence → two
According to an agreed statement of facts read out in court, police discovered the teen, who is now 19, in January 2026.
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who → accord → January
He was found in what court heard described as a boarded-up "cage bed" in a decrepit basement bedroom.
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court → find → bedroom
Though he was 18 and therefore an adult at the time of his rescue, "it's difficult to imagine a more vulnerable human being," assistant Crown attorney Louise Tansey said.
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Tansey → imagine → being
The teen was born with a rare genetic disorder affecting his speech, movement and cognitive development.
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teen → bear → speech
"He will forever remain childlike, forever in that vulnerable state," Tansey said.
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Tansey → remain → state
In the fall of 2025, the teen remained absent from school amid a series of red flags about his family situation.
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teen → remain → situation
But as detailed in the victim impact statements read out by three school staff members on Tuesday, the concerns about his well-being stretched over years.
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concerns → detail → years
And even after the vice-principal shared the good news about the teen being removed from the home, the relief school staff felt was coupled with shock over the teen's condition — and guilt over not having sounded the alarm sooner.
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staff → share → alarm
"How I wish I never sent him home the last day of school the previous June, " the first staff member said.
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member → wish → school
Out of sight
Neither the teen nor his mother can be identified under a publication ban.
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teen → identify → ban
The first staff member said she worked with the teen one-on-one for years.
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she → say → years
He needed help to walk around but loved crawling on the floor during gym time.
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He → need → time
He has needs and wants like every other human, but if he’s fed, clean, well-dressed and loved, he is beyond happy," she said.
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she → have → human
According to the second staff member, "the decline in the care that [he] was receiving from home," plus the amount of time he was being kept at home, compelled staff to push for a wellness check.
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he → accord → check
It was an agonizing dilemma that tortured all of us who cared for him, always suspecting the worst but not having any factual evidence.
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who → torture → evidence
We needed to tread lightly for fear that we would not ever see him again.
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we → need → him
The growing boy who'd been "a smiley, chubby-cheeked [and] active" student began showing up to school with bruises and a "ravenous" appetite, "desperately eating as if every meal might be his last," the third staff member said.
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member → grow → bruises
Staff were once told he'd fallen down the stairs at home after his chair locks were disengaged, but there was no damage to the chair
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locks → tell → chair
, she said.
"A suffocating anxiety and dread took hold of every staff member watching this sweet boy wither away before our eyes," she said.
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she → say → eyes
The school spoke to the mother often, provided the family gift cards and, when the funding for that ran out, staff bought food and other supplies with their own money.
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staff → speak → money
"We would drop them off at his home hoping to catch a glimpse of our smiley friend," the third staff member continued.
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member → drop → friend
"Unfortunately, each time we would go to drop off things at home, we were not allowed to see [him].
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we → go → him
[She] would always meet us outside the house."
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She → meet → house
Children's Aid Society contacted
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Society → contact → ?
According to the agreed statement of facts, the school contacted the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa in 2024 because the teen had appeared gaunt and pale.
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teen → accord → 2024
He missed a lot of school that fall, and when a staff member ran into the mother at a store and went to see the teen who was waiting in the family's car, she was horrified by his "shockingly emaciated" appearance, the third staff member said.
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member → miss → appearance
It's unclear how CASO responded when contacted in 2024.
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CASO → respond → 2024
…and 42 more, not listed.
The Aporia
