Canada court hears teen girl strip searched six times in custody in violation of provincial laws

A downtown Toronto court judge heard Wednesday as part of an agreed statement of facts that a teenage girl in custody had been strip-searched six times at two different facilities while in custody. The searches were reportedly part of routine procedures for the facilities every time she arrived or returned from a family visit or court appearance, in violation of provincial policy.

The court heard of the accounts which had occurred at both the Sundance facility run by the St. Lawrence Youth Association in Kingston, Ontario and the Woodview facility run by the Craigwood Children, Youth and Family Services facility in London, Ontario. Sundance’s written policy required girls to be stripped completely naked during searches, a policy that had been in place for 18 years and ended only in January 2023. The Woodview facility reportedly did not have any written policy on the same. The Ontario Court of Justice in R. v. M.(S.) and R. v. A.(Z.) had recognized that in conducting strip searches of youth, their juvenile status must be taken into consideration. Link to full story here.