PUBLISHER'S NOTE: In view of the Ontario Governments silence from the outset - its refusal to accept accountability for the nightmarish events that occurred at Maplehurst - and the public's need to know that steps have been taken to ensure that the institution is safe again for the inmates - it is imperative that a public inquiry - with the power of compelling witnesses to testify and ordering the production of documents - is called for to get to the truth of what happened once and for all (especially given all of the Ontario government's attempts to conceal what really happened) - and to get recommendations to ensure that nothing like this will ever happen at Maplehurst or any Ontario penal institutions again. PS: Solicitor General Michael Kerzner has not proven himself worthy of his portfolio. Premier Doug Ford should replace him with someone in whom the public can have confidence, who will call the urgently needed public inquiry without delay. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
BACKGROUND: "From a previous post of this Blog, which ran under the heading "Maplehurst abuse scandal likely to lead to more tossed charges, at the link below” "Guards were supposed to film what happened in cells" The Maplehurst incident has compromised more than 30 criminal prosecutions, according to a recent Star analysis, as inmates seek to have their charges stayed or sentences reduced because the jail violated their Charter rights. The Star published some surveillance camera footage of the incident earlier this year after it was made an exhibit in a criminal case. That video does not include audio, nor does it show anything that occurs inside the cells, where some inmates say they were beaten and pepper sprayed."
https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/2697129454755243943
——————————————————————-
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: ("Judge) Conlan lamented how there appeared little to no effort made by anyone at Maplehurst or the ministry to figure out what happened to the hours of missing video evidence, which Conlan found was likely “intentionally destroyed” by someone at the jail. Similarly, there have been no consequences for inmates being left in their underwear for up to two days after the mass strip search, and the jail has done nothing to prevent it from happening again. “No directives from management. No policy changes. Nothing,” Conlan wrote. The judge also found that nothing has been done to reprimand multiple staff members found to have falsified written reports, lied to internal investigatorsand then further lied in court. Conlan’s decision “demonstrates the extent of the institutional misconduct,” said veteran defence lawyer Brian Greenspan, who along with Anthony Robbins and Anil Kapoor, were lead defence counsel on the case."
———————————————————————
PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Meanwhile, the man ultimately responsible for the province’s jails, Solicitor General Michael Kerzner, has maintained his conspicuous silence on the matter. Kerzner has declined all interview requests from the Star about the incidents at Maplehurst. His office did not answer written questions for this story. A ministry spokesperson said he could not comment while matters remain “before the courts.” When questioned by the Star at unrelated news conferences or the provincial legislature this year, Kerzner has simply repeated that when correctional staff do not meet expectations “there will be consequences.”
—————————————————-
PASSAGE THREE OF THE DAY: "Conlan lamented how there appeared little to no effort made by anyone at Maplehurst or the ministry to figure out what happened to the hours of missing video evidence, which Conlan found was likely “intentionally destroyed” by someone at the jail. Similarly, there have been no consequences for inmates being left in their underwear for up to two days after the mass strip search, and the jail has done nothing to prevent it from happening again. “No directives from management. No policy changes. Nothing,” Conlan wrote. The judge also found that nothing has been done to reprimand multiple staff members found to have falsified written reports, lied to internal investigatorsand then further lied in court. Conlan’s decision “demonstrates the extent of the institutional misconduct,” said veteran defence lawyer Brian Greenspan, who along with Anthony Robbins and Anil Kapoor, were lead defence counsel on the case."
——————————————————
STORY: "The Maplehurst inmate abuse scandal led to the collapse of a murder case. Now, other ‘serious’ criminal charges will likely be tossed," by Investigative Reporter Brendan Kennedy, published by The Toronto Star, on November 4, 2025. (Brendan Kennedy is a reporter on the Star’s investigative team, focusing primarily on social justice issues. In 2020 he was part of a team that won a National Newspaper Award for a series of stories showing a higher rate of COVID-19 infection and death in for-profit long-term-care homes. He has also received award nominations for his reporting on Ontario’s Greenbelt scandal, immigration detention, temp work and working conditions for Amazon delivery drivers. He joined the Star as an intern in 2009 and has previously worked as a general assignment reporter, Blue Jays beat writer and social justice news reporter."
SUB-HEADING: The Ford government, which has been largely silent on the jail staff’s conduct, had a “serious lack of proper oversight” over Maplehurst, judge said.
PHOTO CAPTION: A Maplehurst jail guard presses the muzzle of his pepper ball gun against the back of an inmate in December 2023. The jail used its internal riot squad, known as the Institutional Crisis Intervention Unit, to conduct a mass strip search of nearly 200 inmates two days after an inmate punched a guard.
VIDEO CAPTION: Watch: Disturbing video shows jail guards carrying out violent, hours-long retribution at Maplehurst
GIST: "By granting a stay for three men accused of murder because of the abuse they suffered in an Ontario jail awaiting trial, a judge not only ended their prosecution: he paved the way for more cases to be tossed.
Most of the nearly 200 inmates subjected to the violent strip search and collective punishment at the Maplehurst Correctional Complex over two days in December 2023 — treatment described by Justice Clayton Conlan as being “akin to torture” — have already had their charges resolved. Many received reduced sentences to account for the abuse.
Somewhere between 10 and 35 criminal cases are believed to remain, though the province won’t confirm exactly how many. Those will likely now be stayed as well, meaning the prosecutions will be permanently ended.
“I don’t know how another judge could justify departing from the decision that was made in this case,” said Boris Bytensky, president of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association. (Bytensky is not representing any of the affected inmates.)
Conlan’s decision, a 113-page evisceration of the jail and its staff, is not binding on other judges. But other courts will be adopting Conlan’s factual findings and the evidence from the month-long hearing, which included testimony from more than two dozen Maplehurst officials.
Defence lawyer Alison Craig, who has represented more of the affected inmates than any other lawyer, said she has nine unresolved cases and she expects them all now to be stayed, despite all being serious charges.
“Not as serious as murder, but serious,” she said.
Former inmates whose charges have already been resolved would not be able to reopen their cases, Bytensky said.
The Crown could still appeal Conlan’s decision. Attorney General Doug Downey would not be interviewed and his office declined to comment.
Meanwhile, the man ultimately responsible for the province’s jails, Solicitor General Michael Kerzner, has maintained his conspicuous silence on the matter.
Kerzner has declined all interview requests from the Star about the incidents at Maplehurst.
His office did not answer written questions for this story. A ministry spokesperson said he could not comment while matters remain “before the courts.”
When questioned by the Star at unrelated news conferences or the provincial legislature this year, Kerzner has simply repeated that when correctional staff do not meet expectations “there will be consequences.”
Watch: Disturbing video shows jail guards carrying out violent, hours-long retribution at Maplehurst
Neither Kerzner, nor his ministry, have explained what consequences any staff have faced, but Conlan’s decision sheds light on what the judge describes as a “gross lack of accountability” for the jail staff’s conduct and “a very serious lack of proper oversight by the ministry.”
Court heard that the jail’s superintendent at the time, Winston Wong, had since been fired by the ministry, and two other officials had been suspended with pay, pending a final determination.
The Crown had argued that Wong’s firing showed the ministry took seriously what happened. But Conlan found the jail’s misconduct ran far deeper than Wong.
Conlan lamented how there appeared little to no effort made by anyone at Maplehurst or the ministry to figure out what happened to the hours of missing video evidence, which Conlan found was likely “intentionally destroyed” by someone at the jail.
Similarly, there have been no consequences for inmates being left in their underwear for up to two days after the mass strip search, and the jail has done nothing to prevent it from happening again.
“No directives from management. No policy changes. Nothing,” Conlan wrote.
The judge also found that nothing has been done to reprimand multiple staff members found to have falsified written reports, lied to internal investigatorsand then further lied in court.
Conlan’s decision “demonstrates the extent of the institutional misconduct,” said veteran defence lawyer Brian Greenspan, who along with Anthony Robbins and Anil Kapoor, were lead defence counsel on the case.
If someone is outraged by the outcome, Greenspan added, they should be outraged by how the inmates were treated.
Michael Coristine, a defence lawyer who spent 10 years as a Crown attorney, said Conlan’s decision is “shocking,” but also the “culmination of a long-standing tension between the courts and the correctional system, which operates with impunity.”
He pointed to how repeated condemnations by judges about conditions behind bars have been ignored for years.
“There needed to be a sharp rebuke,” he said. “Maybe this will get notice.”
Read Justice Conlan’s full ruling here:
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/the-maplehurst-inmate-abuse-scandal-led-to-the-collapse-of-a-murder-case-now-other/article_086dc600-ab87-4bf4-ae1d-169ab7b066cf.html
