{"abstract":"For weeks this summer, a lead instructor at a Kawartha Lakes hockey camp was a man who recently pleaded guilty to charges of assaulting children. As CBC's Christian D'Avino explains, there is currently no Ontario legislation that requires summer camps to screen staff that work with children.","title":"'Big gap' in Ontario’s rules leaves summer camps unregulated, legal experts say","sourceHref":"https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/9.7310194","renderingRestriction":0,"authors":[],"imageResources":[],"thumbnail":{"caption":"'Big gap' in Ontario’s rules leaves summer camps unregulated, legal experts say","image":{"width":1280,"height":720,"quality":76,"url":"https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA2aj55V.img","attribution":"Michael Cole","title":"This summer camp kept an instructor who pleaded guilty to assaulting kids. Ontario law allows it","source":"msn","cmsId":"cms/api/amp/image/AA2aj55V"}},"body":"Since KL Hockey started at summer camp last month, CBC News has learned one of its lead instructors continued to work with kids until last week, despite having pleaded guilty in April to two counts of assaulting children known to him. That instructor is Bradley Gibbs, a Durham Regional Police Officer. CBC News spoke with one of the victims who is now an adult. If I sent my kid to one of those camps, I would... be really concerned. We've altered their voice and hidden their identity because it's protected by a court ordered publication ban. They say Gibbs is a co-founder of the camp and believes the camp's owners knew about his guilty pleas. They would never hire someone with a criminal record like that. So I think a lot of people would agree with me that him being fired from his job would be fair. After CBC News reached out to Kale Hockey and Gibbs, the camp sent an e-mail to parents last week saying Gibbs would no longer be working at the camp. Given the recent attention surrounding this matter, Brad believes that stepping back is in the best interest of our players, families and camp community, wrote camp director Amanda Tails. The e-mail to parents included a letter from Gibbs saying he took full responsibility for a personal legal matter, saying he accepted accountability for my laps in judgment. Neither Gibbs nor the camp elaborated what the legal matter was in their messages to parents. In a statement to CBC News, Kale Hockey said it would not be making any further comments while the case is still before the courts. Gibbs did not respond to our request for an interview. In Ontario, there is no legislation requiring summer camps to perform security checks of their staff. The Ontario Camps Association says it requires its 400 members to perform criminal background checks, but its membership is voluntary. And the association says it does not mandate what action camp leaders should take after those checks are completed. And KL Hockey doesn't have to follow those same standards because it's not a member of the association. The Ministry of Education requires day camps for children under 4 to get a childcare license. Each staff member has to complete a vulnerable sectors check, a deeper screening process that includes criminal background checks for anyone with positions of authority over kids. But camps for older kids don't fall under the ministry scope. This is a big gap in the legislation. Puneet Tewari is an employment lawyer based out of Toronto. He says Ontario should be mandating vulnerable sector checks for anyone entrusted with caring for children. Parents are entitled to expect a safe system. They are not expected to become private investigators. The camp bears the responsibility to screen, supervise and act on relevant information. The Ministry of Education would not provide answers to our questions asking why these types of checks are not mandated across day and overnight camps and whether there are any safeguards in place to ensure staff and volunteers at these camps do not have criminal convictions. CBC News also asked the Ministry of the Solicitor General whether the province would consider creating that legislation. We did not receive a response. Regional police told CBC News Gibbs has been redeployed from frontline patrol duties to an administrative role. It said it will determine whether he will be subject to a disciplinary hearing after the outcome of his court case. Gibbs is scheduled to be back in court for sentencing next month. Christian Devino, CBC News, Lindsay.","provider":{"id":"AAv7KC","name":"CBC","companyLegalName":"Canadian Broadcasting 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