The mother of a boy who Terrence Noftall, a former janitor at Toronto Western Hospital charged with child sexual abuse-related offences and convicted of touching for a sexual purpose in 2008, tells Global News it’s “pathetic” the man who abused her son got a job at the hospital.
The woman, whose identity is protected under a publication ban, said her son was in Grade Two when Noftall touched her child for a sexual purpose. She said Noftall, who then worked as a school bus driver, brought the boy to and from a program for children with special needs in the Keele Street and Rogers Road area between February and June 2008.
It was during that time her son, who has autism, was abused. She said her son told his father what had happened on the bus.
“He didn’t understand what had happened and that it was wrong,” she told Global News.
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The family then went to police with the allegations. Noftall pleaded guilty to sexual inference but two other charges were dropped.
Court documents obtained by Global News show Noftall was sentenced to 30 days in jail after being given credit for 251 days pre-trial custody. He was also placed on the sex offender registry for 10 years. Noftall was also given a 10-year Section 161 prohibition order, which the mother said included conditions requiring Noftall not to be near children and not to possess sharp objects.
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Toronto police announced on Thursday that nine charges in total were laid against the accused on Feb. 8 and March 5, including sexual interference, accessing child pornography, sexual assault and breach of prohibition order.
Police said Noftall met one of the victims at the Bee Happy Family Campground in Innisfil, Ont., between 2005 and 2009, where it is believed he regularly visited, starting in around the year 2000.
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Investigators said Noftall’s initial arrest in January involved a child he befriended after meeting a woman in 2012 while working at the hospital.
Meanwhile, the victim’s mother said she was not aware that Noftall had been hired at Toronto Western Hospital until she was reached by Global News.
“The hospital should be doing criminal background checks and should be held accountable,” the woman said.
However, a Toronto Western Hospital spokesperson told Global News in a statement on Friday that the hospital’s policy on background checks will change next month.
“Our Human Resources Department has reviewed all of our hiring practices including whether background checks should be required for all new employees. In April, we will ask new employees to have a police reference check done and reported to us as a condition of employment.”
— With files from David Shum and Nick Westoll
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