end of visits. All visits were strictly supervised and the mother and daughter were allowed no privacy. likely that this patient suffers from a paranoid personality disorder, although it is difficult to say at this point as a result of only one interview”, but concluded that she did not need medication. 2.4 On 1 December 1997, 5 on her daughter’s request, the author took her home. As a result, she was convicted of child abduction and sentenced to one month imprisonment. In prison, she was severely beaten by an inmate and thereafter placed in segregation without medical attention for 10 days. On 24 December 1997, she was released on bail, with the condition that before she could have any access to her daughter, she undergo an assessment as approved by the CCAS, and that any access to her daughter be under the immediate and direct supervision of the CCAS. Telephone contact between mother and daughter was terminated following an angry exchange between the author and the foster mother. 2.8 On 2 July 1998, a Dr. G., the author’s family physician since May 1995, indicated in a letter that he did not feel that he knew the patient well and that she was difficult to describe, but that she did not appear to suffer from any major psychiatric illness and had not been on any medications. 2.9 In a letter of 6 July 1998, Dr. T., Consultant Paediatrician who had seen the child in consultation intermittently since August 1993, indicated that he had no reason or evidence to suggest that the author was an unfit mother. 2.10 As a result of Dr. K.’s report which outlined a medical condition, and despite other specialists’ acknowledgment that she was in good health and did not need medication, the CCAS refused to reinstate access. In June 1998, the initial application of the CCAS for an order of 3 months wardship was amended to seek an order of crown wardship with no access, to allow the child to be adopted. In July, August and November 1998, the author’s motions to reinstate access were denied by no-access orders. 2.5 In March 1998, the author was assessed, on the CCAS’ request, by Dr. K., an attending psychiatrist at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, for a total of 4 hours. The Committee has not been provided with a copy of the 14-page report that he produced. However, it transpires from the judgement of 26 June 2000 6 that the doctor, who based his assessment on two interviews and second-hand information from other psychiatrists, found the author to suffer from a delusional disorder and erotomanic, persecutory, and somatic delusions. According to the judge, the doctor also observed that because her mental illness was proceeding untreated, her ability to care for her daughter was in question. 2.11 In an adoptability assessment of 28 September 1998, an Adoption Social Worker of the CCAS considered that “since her admission into care, J.’s social skills have greatly improved”. However, she found that “J. appears to have a significant attachment to her mother” and “she has stated that she wants to live with her”. “J., in a discussion with this worker indicated that she wanted to be with her mother, although she still has some ambivalence about her.” She stated that she loved her mother although she had been beaten by her. “Despite this, she was not able to consider the possibility of living with another family at this time.” The social worker concluded that it would be helpful to have the child psychologically assessed and specifically explore the attachment issues before making a decision about her adoptability. 2.6 On 29 September 1998, Dr. K. replied to a letter from the author’s counsel, and clarified a number of issues, among which was the fact that he was not able to detect the author’s erotomanic delusions in his time spent with her, but rather that the notes from the University of Toronto Health Services Clinic suggested that her treatment there flowed from her erotomanic delusional material. He also indicated in his conclusions that if she did experience erotomanic delusions, they did not appear to have had an impact on her ability to care for her daughter.7 2.12 On 12 December 1998, Dr. P., the child’s psychologist, wrote a report on the possible effect that crown wardship without access might have on the child. The psychologist indicated that the child, who at that time had not seen her mother for one year, was at risk of developing attachment disorder. She further stated that: 2.7 On 12 May 1998, the author was assessed by Dr. G. from the Toronto Hospital. In describing the author, he indicated that “there do not appear to be any manic or overt psychotic symptoms”, that “there was no formal thought disorder” and that “her thought content revealed mostly ideas of persecution which appeared to be overvalued, but not of delusional proportions”. He considered that “it is “J. misses her mother, says she wants to see her, she is confused by her mother’s absence. (…) J. is a child in limbo. (…) The impression I got from both conversations with J.’s foster mother and from J.’s presentation is that she is clinging to the memory of 5 According to the author, the temporary order of 7 August 1997, granting temporary care to the CCAS with supervised access, had expired at this time, and was neither varied nor extended by another order. 6 See below. 7 This information was also made available to the judge. 77