Government failed ‘out of control’ teen, father says
Coroner probing teen deaths in 2017 police chase
— Relatives hoped for so much better from a government that took Nathan Wehrle into its care.
What they saw is a child protection system that moved him from place to place and let him chase disaster until he found it.
“The whole point of putting him in care was because of his poor decisions,” said Tom Soloman, Nathan’s father.
“And to me he was failed, because I don’t think they did their job whatsoever . ... They’ll judge me on my parenting skills when they’re just as bad.”
Nathan died one year ago at 15, fleeing police in a stolen car and colliding head-on with a transport truck. His passenger and new girlfriend Taryn Hewitt, 16, also perished.
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit is expected to release its investigation into the fatal police chase Friday, on the anniversary of the deaths. The families of both teens argue police should have stopped the chase.
Nathan’s death follows the deaths of a dozen other children in government care between 2014 and 2017.
The other deaths, by suicide, accident or homicide, have led an expert coroner’s panel to issue a scathing report calling for an overhaul of Ontario’s child protection system.
Experts cite concerns that include poor supervision and a system that moves children too often, based on availability rather than on needs.
“There doesn’t seem to be any supervision,” said Tasha Soloman, Nathan’s aunt.
“I just know that he would be in places that he shouldn’t be, and he would just get a slap on the wrist and go back and then do it again.”
Ontario’s chief coroner is looking into the deaths of both teens. The office has not decided on whether to call an inquest.
“I can confirm that our in-
vestigations into the circumstances of Taryn Hewitt and Nathan Wehrle are ongoing,” said Cheryl Mahyr, spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Coroner.
Relatives are uncertain about the details of Nathan’s care in government custody. They recall that he was placed in Cambridge. He was placed in London. More recently it seems he was placed in Brampton. They know he spent time in foster care, and possibly also in a group home.
“Almost every year it seemed like he was moving,” Tasha Soloman said.
The government won’t discuss how it supervised Nathan, saying privacy rules extend beyond his death.
His death in government care would have triggered an automatic review “to identify opportunities to prevent further deaths by making recommendations to children’s aid societies and others where relevant,” said Geneviève Oger, spokesperson for the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services.
Government minister Lisa MacLeod has vowed changes in child protection, citing “unacceptable deaths” highlighted by the expert panel.
Nathan’s relatives remember him as a sweet child who fell behind in school in Cambridge. He liked to ride BMX bicycles. He played soccer. He was good with his younger cousins.
But as they tell the story, Nathan later exhausted his separated parents with his poor choices and difficult behaviour.
He skipped school. He began stealing cars. He ran with the wrong crowd. He disappeared for days on end. He had violent outbursts, flipping tables.
“He just got so out of control that we had no choice but to put him under care,” said Tom Soloman, 38, who did not share custody of his son.
Soloman saw government care as the right choice. Parenting Nathan had become an all-consuming strain that he struggled to bear. The government has more resources, he figured.
“I figured I was doing the right thing by crying out for help,” he said.
“I feel bad. I feel like I could have done more. But it keeps running through my head, what else could I have done?”
Tasha Soloman tried to set her nephew straight when she saw him. “We were on him when we could, to give him advice,” she said.
Her hope was that he would eventually learn from his mistakes. “I don’t understand why he was going down this road he was going. I guess I’ll never know,” she said.
Nathan dated Taryn Hewitt for just a few weeks before they died. She was from London.
“He was always very kind and respectful around us,” said Kate Hewitt, Taryn’s mother.
Taryn’s parents did not learn that Nathan was a Crown ward until after their daughter died. They intend to press for a coroner’s inquest to examine how she died and compel testimony from all involved.
Taryn liked to play fastball. She was good in school when she wanted to be, her father, Steve Hewitt, said. She joined up with Nathan after returning home from visiting her father in Alberta where he lived and worked. It was the first time she flew on an airplane on her own.
The trip opened her eyes to a bigger world.
“She wanted to be an adult,” said Steve Hewitt, who relocated to Ontario after his daughter died.
“That was the problem I was having with her. You’re growing up too fast. Stay a kid, be in school, and not worry about being an adult.”
“Taryn was always helping somebody through something,” Karen Hewitt said. “She always gravitated to the ones that needed ‘help’.”
Her parents have been devastated. “I’m doing what any father would do,” Steve Hewitt said. “I’m going slowly crazy.”