by Meghan Hurley
Ottawa Sun
A Mountie on trial for torturing and starving his shackled, naked son in a Kanata basement believed the boy was a masochist — someone who gets gratification from pain — a psychologist testified Wednesday.
He also believed he was educating the 11-year-old in order to protect the rest of the family, said the psychologist, who saw the Mountie more than 50 times for one-hour sessions.
“It was almost impossible for him to realize he was doing something wrong,” the psychologist told the court, under questioning from the Mountie’s defence lawyer.
The 44-year-old man and his wife are both on trial for confining the boy and failing to provide him with the necessities of life. The boy’s father is also on trial for aggravated sexual assault with a barbecue lighter.
The psychologist, who cannot be named under a publication ban, offered his take on the now-suspended Mountie’s mindset.
Since punishment loses its effectiveness with a masochist, the psychologist testified that his client believed he had to increase the punishment.
“He was forced to find an increase in pain so the avoidance would be triggered,” the psychologist testified in French through a translator.
He said the Mountie believed his son “accepted to play that role for his father.”
When the Mountie confined his child in the basement of his Kanata home before he escaped on Feb. 12, 2013 in search of water, he viewed his child as his “main enemy” and imagined that his son was possessed by the devil, the psychologist testified.
The Mountie suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from the “extremely barbaric” scenes he witnessed at a young age when he lived in Lebanon, the psychologist testified. He was also the victim of sexual assault — a common occurrence at his school in Lebanon, court heard.
“It marked him,” the psychologist testified.
Before moving to Canada, the Mountie was a child when he left school one day to take a taxi to his mother’s apartment in Beirut but was asked to exit the vehicle by militia at a check point. The Mountie had to lie about his name in order to save his life, the psychologist testified.
A few days after he arrived in Beirut, the Mountie injured his arm when a car bomb exploded, court heard.
The Mountie was also traumatized by the kidnapping of his parents, court heard.They were eventually released when it became clear his family had no money to pay a ransom, the psychologist testified.
The psychologist testified he believed the Mountie was sincere when he told him about his difficult past.
The Mountie’s PTSD led him to become “hyper-stimulated” and something as simple as a smile from a woman could be viewed by him as sexual assault, the psychologist testified.
When he came to Canada, one of the worst things that could have happened was getting hired by the RCMP, the psychologist testified. With the job came danger that was constantly stimulating his PTSD.
The test the RCMP administered when he was hired showed a “small problem” but the service decided to look the other way, the psychologist testified.
The psychologist’s testimony continues Thursday.