Child protection worker tells coroner’s inquest that if she had known an Indigenous teenager she was caring for had a history of suicidal thoughts and self-harm, she would have tried to get him talk about.
Kim Loiselle was the Hamilton Children’s Aid Society child services worker assigned to Devon Freeman from late 2016 until he became a Crown ward in June 2017.
The inquest heard that a residential program Freeman attended shortly before being taken into the agency’s care documented his suicidal thoughts, which included plans to hang himself.
Loiselle says she didn’t receive any records from that program, and having that information would have made a difference in how she approached the 16-year-old.
Sometimes in tears during her testimony, Loiselle said she would have tried to address the issue with Freeman – particularly after learning he had attempted suicide after running away from the Lynwood Charlton Center group home in Flamborough in May 2017.
The inquest heard Freeman disappeared from the home on Oct. 7 and his body was found on the property more than six months later in April 2018. An autopsy determined he died by hanging.