Ex-jail guard sues, claims he was ‘fall guy’ for attack
A former Ottawa correctional officer implicated in what has been called the worst provincial jail coverup in the past decade has launched a $4.2-million lawsuit against the province, claiming he was made to be the “fall guy” for a bloody attack on a handcuffed inmate.
John Barbro alleged he was the victim of a botched and corrupt investigation that set out from the start to pin the blame on him for an alleged beating suffered by inmate Jean-Paul Rhéaume at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre more than five years ago.
Barbro was fired and criminally accused of stomping on Rhéaume’s head, but a prosecutor abandoned the case and Barbro was acquitted of assault following a two-week trial plagued by conflicting testimony and evidence of collusion about exactly what happened.
In court documents, Barbro alleges the accusations against him were orchestrated by his coworkers to deflect attention away from themselves or as a result of “menacing ultimatums” from investigators with the province’s Correctional Investigations and Security Unit. Barbro claims that all blame was assigned to him “for the purpose of political expediency” and to silence public criticism about what happened inside the jail.
Barbro made the allegations in a statement of defence and cross-claim filed in response to a $1.55-million lawsuit launched against him and the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services by Rhéaume and his mother.
The ministry said it intends to defend both lawsuits but has yet to file a statement of defence. None of Barbro’s nor Rhéaume’s allegations have been proven in court.
Rhéaume’s plight first became public in June 2013 in then-ombudsman André Marin’s report on a “code of silence” that he found existed among correctional staff in Ontario.
Accompanied by a jarring photo of Rhéaume’s battered face, the ombudsman detailed how Rhéaume’s head was split open on Oct. 23, 2010 — a particularly troubling example, the ombudsman contended, of the excessive force and coverups that occur within Ontario jails.
Rhéaume, who was serving a 30-day sentence for break-andenter, suffered lacerations to his face, an eye that was swollen shut, and swelling between the scalp and his skull, for which he ended up spending time in hospital under observation. Rhéaume already had cognitive difficulties from a brain injury he suffered as a child.
Rhéaume cried when a reporter showed him the picture of his mangled face following the release of Marin’s report, even though it had been years since he was injured.
Marin called what happened in Ottawa the worst example of a coverup and use of excessive force that he had uncovered.
But exactly how Rhéaume came to suffer those injuries is further clouded by Barbro’s own version of what happened that day, laid out in his court documents.
In his statement of defence and cross-claim, Barbro alleges that Oct. 23, 2010, was an “extraordinary” day at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre on Innes Road. It involved escorting general population prisoners from the maximum security area to another area of the jail known as “the pod,” while protective custody inmates were moved from the pod to the maximum security area. About 300 inmates were involved in the two-day transfer, according to Barbro.
Barbro — who had been called in on his days off to assist with the transfer — alleged that it was during this move that he was among a group of 11 correctional officers called to assist with Rhéaume, who was outside his cell. According to Barbro, he arrived to discover Rhéaume on his back and fellow guard Tyler Roy straddling him and delivering left-handed punches to his face.
Barbro said he pulled Roy off a bleeding Rhéaume, who remained combative and continued to fight and resist any attempts to be cuffed or controlled. Barbro denied kicking or stomping Rhéaume and said he didn’t use any unjustified force.
According to Barbro’s statement of defence, Rhéaume was “belligerent, violent and resisting control and instructions to co-operate.” He further alleged that if Rhéaume was hurt, he was the “author of his own misfortune” because he voluntarily “assumed the risks of harm by engaging and maintaining a violent conflict.”
Barbro described his contact with Rhéaume as incidental and unrelated to any injuries Rhéaume might have suffered at the hands of Roy or Melissa Schell, the other correctional officer who had initially been dealing with Rhéaume.
Roy and Schell were the only two correctional officers to positively identify Barbro during the criminal trial as the one stomping Rhéaume. One correctional officer testified during the trial that he saw Roy hitting Rhéaume but felt intimidated by correctional investigators into identifying Barbro as the assailant.
Barbro alleged he was a “victim of a conspiracy” by Schell, Roy and others at the ministry.
A lawyer for Schell and Roy said in an email that they “firmly deny” Barbro’s allegations against them. Barbro’s allegations “are not supported by the investigations that have been conducted in this matter to date,” Ben Piper said.
“Ms. Schell and Mr. Roy look forward to having these matters dealt in a civil trial, where unlike in criminal proceedings, Mr. Barbro will have the burden to prove his allegations,” Piper wrote.
Roy and Schell were both suspended over the incident involving Rhéaume but didn’t lose their jobs.
It emerged during the trial that Roy organized meetings to collude with other correctional officers. Both are named as defendants in both the lawsuit and cross-claim, and neither has yet filed a statement of defence, although they intend to do so soon.
Roy, who had been suspended another time after being caught on video destroying inmate mail and was reprimanded for an unrelated assault on an inmate, was eventually fired from the jail for misconduct, the documents allege.
Barbro alleged that Roy was the nephew of a senior employee in corrections and “well protected” because of nepotism.
Lawrence Greenspon, Rhéaume’s lawyer, said they aren’t surprised by Barbro’s allegations. Whether it was Barbro or another correctional officer, one of them inflicted Rhéaume’s injuries, Greenspon said.
“We don’t accept that (Rhéaume) being upset is what prompted or entitled the guards to do what they did to him. ” Greenspon said.
Barbro alleges he has suffered tremendously as a result of being criminally charged and fired after nearly 12 years as a correctional officer at the detention centre.
The allegations and criminal charges were humiliating and hurt him financially, Barbro said.
Barbro, who had previously worked for the Children’s Aid Society and as acting operational manager at the William E. Hay youth detention centre, said he had to empty his bank account and borrow money from family to pay his $180,000 legal bill.
We accept (Rhéaume)don’t that beingis what upset prompted or entitled the guards to do what they did to him.