The intellectually challenged man who was once a resident of the now closed Huronia Regional Centre will continue living with his longtime caregiver while his sister is entitled to a number of visits and unlimited telephone access.
Under the agreement, reached on the eve of a full-fledged court fight, Ford will continue to live with Shelley Klintworth at her farm in Campbellcroft, Ont. Sister Ruby Williams can have him stay at her home near Dresden, Ont., 30 days a year.
“We weren’t fighting for Gary, we already had Gary,” Klintworth, 47, said Wednesday, claiming she had to spend $50,000 in legal fees to keep Ford where he’s lived for the past decade.
“We were fighting to prove that I wasn’t a thief. And that’s the part that’s making me so freaking mad.”
In the protracted battle between the two women, allegations flew from both sides. Sister Williams noted her concern that caregiver Klintworth was convicted in June 2006 of shoplifting from a Walmart store in Cobourg, while she was with Ford, netting her a criminal record and probation.
A Walmart security guard testified he saw Klintworth load up Ford’s shopping cart, then go outside and wait as he bypassed the cashiers without paying for $152.26 worth of merchandise. The judge accepted the security guard’s evidence, which he said was also consistent with a security videotape.
“I’m pretty sure if I was a kidnapper and a thief Gary wouldn’t be living with me,” Klintworth said. “I only wish the lies and deception and the expense our family suffered the last two years could have been avoided.”
Klintworth received a full pardon for the conviction.
Full Article and Source:
Guardianship battle for intellectually challenged man settled
3 comments:
Oh my, what a story!
When you think you heard all there is to hear - truth is stranger than fiction the family is forever changed.
I know some parents use their kids to shoplift but it seems just too far out to think of using an elderly person to do this.
What a tragedy.
Post a Comment