4 fired at Montreal youth centre following sexual misconduct investigation

Four employees have been fired from a Montreal youth rehabilitation centre — where nine female educators were allegedly having sexual relations with minors under their watch.

Assunta Gallo, the director of youth protection at the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, presented the findings of an external investigation on Tuesday.  At the news conference, she said two of the four firings at Cité-des-Prairies were for sexual misconduct.

The centre, located in Montreal's eastern Rivière-des-Prairies neighbourhood, houses 158 young people between the ages of 12 and 21. Some of them include youth who have committed murder, drug trafficking, pimping or who have used firearms.

In October, the CIUSSS either suspended or fired at least nine educators and two managers after conducting an internal investigation into allegations of sexual activity and drug trafficking involving youths staying at the centre. Those incidents allegedly took place over at least a year.

The allegations at Cité-des-Prairies were first reported in Le Devoir and La Presse. Following their reporting, the head of Quebec's youth protection, Catherine Lemay, resigned. 

Gallo said two managers have been suspended with pay and a total of 24 reports were filed. She noted that some of the reports weren't retained and other situations are still being assessed.

More dismissals could follow, according to Valérie Jacob, the CIUSSS's interim director of human resources.

Gallo confirmed that at least one full-blown relationship between an employee and a youth occurred and led to a pregnancy, adding that other situations of sexual abuse and misconduct took place.

An administrative report on the centre, published on Tuesday, lists several recommendations to end the culture of silence among employees at Cité-des-Prairies and recommends "systematically applying disciplinary measures" when confronted with reprehensible behaviour.

External investigators, hired by the regional health authority, found that incidents at the centre are not being reported to youth protection services (DPJ), as required by law, which has prevented the DPJ from fully exercising its mandate.

"The DPJ-DP is not being alerted or is being alerted later to situations that involve its accountability," the report reads. "Unprofessional and inappropriate practices take place in the units and are tolerated …. Disciplinary measures are underused."

Twelve of the 13 recommendations on security were redacted in the report.

Investigators say that most of the centre's educational staff consist of young women who lack professional training and noted that ongoing training has not been offered to staff since 2020.

No evidence of 'street gangs' infiltrating

The report describes "many prohibited objects," including drugs, were brought into Cité-des-Prairies. But external investigators found no signs of "street gangs" infiltrating it.

"We do not have any facts allowing us to conclude that educators involved in the cases we processed were acting under any kind of threat," the investigators wrote.

Gallo said other problematic behaviour at the centre involved the use of cellphones during work hours for reasons unrelated to work, wearing "inappropriate clothing" and employees being too intimate with the youths.

Montreal police launched an investigation into allegations at the centre, which could lead to criminal charges.