GREGORY CARTER; "REAL VICTIMS"; THE HUMAN COST WHEN LAWYERS AND SOCIAL AGENCIES DON'T CHECK "EXPERT'S" CREDENTIALS; MICHELE MANDEL; THE TORONTO SUN;

"The bogus psychologist tore their lives apart, made clinical reports that ripped away their kids and recommendations that cost their life savings.

The shattered collection of broken parents and grandparents came together Wednesday at the College of Psychologists of Ontario to see Gregory Carter finally admit that he doesn't have a recognized PhD in psychology and the "expert witness" wasn't really qualified to make diagnoses in child custody battles."

REPORTER MICHELE MANDEL: THE TORONTO SUN;

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BACKGROUND: Gregory Carter, 63, was charged Jan. 25 with fraud, obstructing justice and perjury. Durham police allege Mr. Carter falsely identified himself as a psychologist in family court proceedings, identifying himself as a doctor. Some of those hearings resulted in parents losing bids for custody of their children, police said. On June 22, 2010, he pleaded guilty to professional misconduct for holding himself out as a "doctor" and was suspended for three months. Local papers have reported that the possibility of a class action is being explored.

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"TORONTO - The bogus psychologist tore their lives apart, made clinical reports that ripped away their kids and recommendations that cost their life savings," Michele Mandel's Toronto Sun story published earlier today under the heading, "Fake psychologist's victims real," begins.

"The shattered collection of broken parents and grandparents came together Wednesday at the College of Psychologists of Ontario to see Gregory Carter finally admit that he doesn't have a recognized PhD in psychology and the "expert witness" wasn't really qualified to make diagnoses in child custody battles," the story continues.

"Carter, who worked under contract with the Durham Children's Aid Society, appeared before the college's discipline committee and pleaded guilty to professional misconduct after posing as a real doctor and diagnosing a Whitby dad as a narcissist without even meeting him, an assessment that cost the father sole custody of his two kids.

Carter was given a recorded reprimand, a three-month suspension from practising and prohibited from doing custody and access assessments for a year without a college-approved supervisor.

"This is a very serious act of misconduct on the part of Mr. Carter," said the college's lawyer, Jennifer McKendry. "We must send Mr. Carter a message that this can't happen again."

It was just the first stage of much trouble ahead for the disgraced psychological associate. Carter, 63, will make another court appearance Thursday on criminal charges of fraud, obstructing justice and perjury for allegedly impersonating a psychologist.

"It's just the tip of the iceberg," predicted lawyer George Callahan, who is considering a class action lawsuit. "It's tragic for the kids. The consequences are horrendous."

Carter's guilty plea to professional misconduct offered no solace to the distraught father -- he still has to share custody of his two young boys with their mother, whom a bona fide psychologist warned has a borderline personality disorder.

"It doesn't undo the harm he's done," said the father, who can only be identified as Mr. S. "They give him a time out but they don't make him clean up his mess. I still have to turn my kids over to someone with a diagnosed mental illness."

And then the father began to cry.

After administering just one test on his ex-wife, Carter completely dismissed an exhaustive, 37-page evaluation by a highly respected psychologist who diagnosed her with a borderline personality disorder.

Suspicious, Mr. S. contacted the College of Psychologists and was shocked to learn Carter wasn't a psychologist at all, but a psychological associate with a master's degree who was restricted from making an independent diagnosis without the supervision of a qualified psychologist.

Yet Carter told family court he was a doctor with a PhD from Pacific Western University, the now-defunct school branded a "diploma mill" in a report by the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs.

Not surprisingly, it's a PhD not recognized by the College of Psychologists.

But what was even more shocking occurred when Mr. S. informed the court that Carter wasn't the psychologist he pretended to be. The judge still chose to accept the fake shrink's assessment and set aside the one by the real psychologist.

"They all knew he wasn't qualified but nobody would do anything," said the dad, who has gone through his $400,000 in savings and has no money to launch a new legal fight. "I'm not an isolated case here."

In fact, his complaint to the college was one of at least three made against Carter. While warning bells were going off everywhere, no one seemed to care.

A mom who lost sole custody of her daughter after she was also diagnosed as a narcissist complained about Carter's credentials back in July 2008. It took almost a year before the college "cautioned" him to stop using "doctor" on his letterhead.

Meanwhile, she went from being a stay-at-home mom with full custody to seeing her daughter every second weekend. It was only after exhausting all her savings that she's won back more access to her child.

So there was some satisfaction as she watched the bogus psychologist finally reprimanded by his peers over his treatment of Mr. S.

"It's a start," she sighed, "but there's many, many more of us.""

The story can be found at:

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2010/06/23/14484561.html

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;