Women, Children Turned Away from Shelters in Canada Almost 19,000 Times a Month

When abuse victims try to leave, there's often nowhere to go,

CBC investigation finds

It would be great if pastors of churches across Canada asked for stable families to open their

homes to these desperate women. It could be a temporary solution or a full-time ministry.

The government could provide tax credits or even small payments to help with costs.

Tara Carman · CBC News 

Michelle, pictured here in Langley, B.C., had to call shelters in B.C.'s Fraser Valley multiple times before she was admitted because there was no space. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)

This story is part of Stopping Domestic Violence, a CBC News series looking at the crisis of intimate partner violence in Canada and what can be done to end it.

One cold night in Montreal last December, Hamidah decided she'd had enough.

Her husband had become enraged while they were talking. He kicked her in the chest, knocking her down, and then punched her in the face several times while she was on the ground.

It wasn't the first time he had hit her. It usually happened when she refused to have sex with him.

"Why are you beating me? Why are you doing this to me?" she recalls saying through her tears.

"And he said, 'You don't listen to me, you should do whatever I want … you should obey me. You don't have any right to say no to me.'"

Of course, this is Muslim philosophy. Women have no rights in Islam, many are required to dress in such a way as to be invisible, lest a man be tempted by an ankle of a wisp of hair.

All the while, the couple's four-year-old son was within earshot.

When it was over, Hamidah, who is 26, was left with a black eye and bruises all over her face.

She told her husband she needed some air. She took her son, went outside and called 911.

The two waited outside their home, in subzero temperatures, for over an hour.

When police arrived, they called five or six women's shelters in Montreal. None had any room for Hamidah and her son.

She asked the police where she could go. An officer told her to keep calling shelters.

Holding her son's hand as the snow fell around them, Hamidah started to cry.

Hundreds turned away

Hamidah is not her real name, and the CBC has agreed to protect her identity out of concern for her safety.

Her situation is not unique.

A sign on the wall at a transition house in Langley, B.C. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)

A CBC News analysis reveals that in November 2019, an average of 620 women and children a day were turned away from domestic violence shelters across Canada. That's nearly 19,000 times a month, if November was typical.

The true number is likely much higher. Shelter workers in several locations told CBC that in fact numbers are lower in November, because women are reluctant to leave their families as the holiday season nears. 

CBC's data is also incomplete. CBC reporters heard back from just over half the 527 shelters we identified, meaning this figure does not include the people turned away from about 220 shelters.

In more than 80 per cent of cases, people were turned away because the shelter was full.

Not only is the number of people turned away each day in the hundreds, it is also growing. Statistics Canada figures show the number increased 69 per cent from 539 in 2014 to 911 in 2018, based on data from all of the shelters in the country.

Lise Martin, executive director of Women's Shelters Canada, says a nationally coordinated approach is needed to help women and children fleeing domestic violence. ( Mathieu Theriault/CBC)

Calling a shelter for help is a big decision, and having to turn away women and children who are in danger has serious consequences, said Lise Martin, executive director of Women's Shelters Canada.

It may mean someone with nowhere else to go is forced to live with their abuser longer.

Hamidah and her son went back home that night. They had nowhere else to go.

She called shelters the next day, too, but there was still no room for them. Some said they would call her if a space opened up, but none ever did. 

'It's OK that he beats you'

She called her family in Afghanistan and told them she wanted to separate from her husband, hoping they would offer support.

"They told me no, it's OK that he beats you," she said. They told her she wouldn't be able to make it on her own in Canada, as a woman, without her husband. 

More Muslim misogynistic philosophy!

"I have no hope from shelters, no hope from my parents, no hope from my husband. I'm alone with all that stress and with my son … I was totally in a dark place."

Hamidah decided she would end her own life. 

Happening across Canada

Shelters serving women in Montreal are almost always full, said Manon Monastesse, executive director of the Quebec Federation of Women's Shelters.

Women's shelters in Quebec serve not only those fleeing domestic violence, but also victims of sex trafficking, forced marriage and some homeless women, Monastesse explained. The population is growing, and there have been very few women's shelters built in the past decade.

Forced marriages are not exclusive to Islam but are another feature of it, including child brides and multiple brides.

Manon Monastesse, the executive director of the Quebec Federation of Women's Shelters, says the number of women and children turned away from shelters in the Montreal area is a growing problem. (Ivanoh Demers/Radio-Canada)

But the problem is not limited to Quebec.

CBC's analysis found domestic violence shelters are forced to turn women and children away in significant numbers in all of Canada's major cities.

Nationally, the biggest contributing factor is a lack of affordable housing, said Martin, the director of Women's Shelters Canada. 

Younger women speaking up

This puts rents out of reach for many of the women who use the shelters and keeps some living with their abusers.

Another factor is greater awareness of intimate partner violence. Both Martin and Monastesse said shelter clients are increasingly younger women who are less willing to put up with abuse and are leaving relationships earlier than was the case in the past.

Even when women are able to get into emergency shelters, their stay is often limited to between one and three months. The lack of affordable housing makes it difficult to find somewhere to go after that and some women return to their abusers.

Michelle, whose last name CBC is not reporting, fled to a transition house in B.C.'s Fraser Valley after months of psychological and sometimes physical abuse.

But she had just 30 days to find another place to live and couldn't find anything she could afford. Faced with what she was told would be a two-year wait for subsidized housing, she returned to her former partner, who said he had changed.

Michelle, pictured here at a Langley, B.C. women's shelter, returned to her abusive partner when she couldn't find affordable housing. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)

Within months, the abuse started again and quickly escalated. Michelle began to fear for her safety. She called several women's shelters, but they were all full.

"I have to survive again until I can … find a way into a transition house," she recalled thinking. "What am I supposed to do? I was really scared."

Last month, Michelle called a shelter just when a spot opened up and was told she had hours to take the available bed. She is now desperately searching for a permanent place to call home.

'I have nothing'

On a cold December morning not long before Christmas, Hamidah woke up without hope.

She fed her son breakfast and dressed him. She asked her husband to take him to daycare. 

When they were gone, Hamidah wrote a note, explaining she was ending her life "because no one understands me. I have no hope."

She sent her husband a text message telling him she was about to commit suicide and asking him to take care of their son.

And then the world went dark.

Traumatic for shelter staff

Workers on the front lines who must tell women in need there is no room at the shelter say the experience is traumatic. 

Chandra Evanson, who works at Dixon House in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby, said staff turn away about half the requests for shelter they receive because there is no space. Sometimes this means refusing several people per day.

Chandra Evanson, who works at Dixon House in Burnaby, B.C., says having to tell women in need there is no room at the shelter takes a personal toll. (Submitted by Chandra Evanson)

"To say no to somebody who I know has children who may be returning to an unsafe situation is just extremely upsetting for me," she said. "I don't even know how to put it into words to know that a mom is struggling to protect her children and may not be able to do that." 

Evanson refers them elsewhere, but knows other shelters in Vancouver's Lower Mainland are often at or near capacity as well.

National plan needed

What's needed, Martin said, is a nationally co-ordinated plan to ensure women and children in danger have a safe place to go.

The federal government has the funds through the national housing strategy to build more shelters, she explained, but it's provincial governments that are responsible for staffing and running them. 

Provinces also fund programs such as counselling that are needed by abuse survivors, and crucially, subsidized housing.

The federal minister responsible for women and gender equality, Maryam Monsef, said in an interview with CBC News that the government has started work on a co-ordinated national plan to address gender-based and intimate partner violence, but she would not commit to a timeline.

Maryam Monsef, the federal minister of Women and Gender Equality, says the federal government is developing a national strategy on intimate partner violence. (Kate Bueckert/CBC)

Part of that is support for subsidized housing through the national housing strategy, Monsef said, adding that she has heard the call from women's advocacy groups to use some of that money to specifically help women and children fleeing domestic violence.

'I am safe'

Hamidah could hear her husband speaking, but wasn't able to move or talk. 

Paramedics arrived and placed an oxygen mask over her mouth. They took her to the hospital.

"I told the doctor that I'm in a relationship that didn't work for me and I want to go in a place where I cannot see my husband … if I go back to home, I will do the same thing, I will … end my life."

A social worker met with Hamidah while she was in hospital and arranged a place in a shelter. 

When Hamidah was discharged, the hospital called a taxi. But in the 10 minutes it took the taxi to get there, Hamidah's husband and son arrived. 

Her son was delighted to see her, yelling and smiling and hugging his mother. Hamidah couldn't bear to leave him.

So she went home with her husband.

But in her hand was a tiny piece of paper, which she hid as soon as she got home: the address of the shelter.

Two days later, she went to a convenience store late at night, while her husband was at work. She called the shelter and asked if they still had a place for her. They did.

The shelter called a taxi, and Hamidah left with her son. 

When she woke up in the morning, in a safe place with her son by her side, Hamidah said she felt something in her had changed.

"I have no stress. I am safe, I have hope, and my husband is not here."

"It's paradise for me."

The two will be able to stay in the shelter until a subsidized apartment opens up. 

In the meantime, Hamidah works as a cook and hopes to finish high school.

Sharing her story with others at the shelter and hearing their stories gave Hamidah courage to go forward, she said. 

"We are strong and we are going to be strong."

If you need help and are in immediate danger, call 911. To find assistance in your area click here.

To read all the stories in CBC's Stopping Domestic Violence series, visit cbc.ca/stoppingdomesticviolence

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tara Carman

Data Journalist

Tara Carman is an investigative journalist who specializes in finding the stories buried in big data. She has more than a decade of experience reporting in B.C., across Canada and overseas. She joined CBC News in February 2017. You can reach her at tara.carman@cbc.ca or on Twitter @tarajcarman.

With files from Erica Johnson, Enza Uda and Julie Ireton

As a Male Survivor of Child Sexual Abuse, I Need You to Know My Story

Tim Verity was sexually abused as a child CREDIT: CLARA MOLDEN/THE TELEGRAPH

Tim Verity 

I had always known what happened to me as a child. I was eight when the abuse finally stopped but I had vivid dreams reliving the experiences for years. When I realised their significance at 15 they quickly turned to nightmares, turning my life upside down. Now, at 32, I have secured the conviction of the man responsible and finally found some measure of peace. By telling my story, I hope to help other survivors do the same.

I grew up in a happy, middle class home; the son of a doctor and a nurse, loving parents who worked hard to provide for me. I was a precocious child with a wayward streak, never shy about vocalising my thoughts or confronting figures in authority. One early school report read ‘Tim will make Prime Minister, if someone doesn’t shoot him first’. Although my campaign for high office never quite took off, people who know me will sympathise with that sentiment. Given that, I often wonder why I kept the abuse I suffered a secret for so long.

It happened on weekend visits to a relative's house during the early 1990s. The woman, who I called ‘auntie’, made sugar mice as treats for me. Her adoptive son Neil, an overweight, moustachioed man then in his mid-twenties, would withhold the sweets and use them to entice me to perform sexual acts on him, as well as keeping quiet about the assaults he would carry out on me, behaviour we would today label ‘grooming’.

The abuse occurred on multiple occasions over a period of a few years. For a long time I told myself, ‘it wasn’t that bad, other people have been through far worse’. What is important to me, more than any salacious details, is the profound devastation it caused.

Tim Verity left the family home at the age of 16 CREDIT: THE TELEGRAPH/CLARA MOLDEN

Many survivors go through decades of their lives blocking these memories or are unable to process what they mean, only for the realisation to emerge suddenly and unexpectedly. For me, it took the rape of a friend when I was 15 to understand that what had happened wasn’t a normal part of growing up. This revelation turned me, almost overnight, from a happy-go-lucky class clown to a deeply troubled young man.

My mental health deteriorated rapidly and nightmares stopped me from sleeping. I experienced depression, anxiety, overwhelming emotions and elements of psychosis, kick-starting a pattern of shame, self-loathing and self-destructive behaviour that continued to follow me throughout my life.

I drank heavily to cope with my waking thoughts, which verged on suicidal. I couldn’t cope with being around former friends who I felt had abandoned me and started playing truant from school, eventually dropping out altogether.

My parents had no idea what had happened to their once happy, if argumentative, little boy. They couldn’t cope with my increasingly unhinged and unexplained behaviour. They eventually took the heart-breakingly difficult decision to kick me out of the family home when I turned 16, in 2000.

Reading about other survivors was a huge source of

support for me over the years, which is why I want

to share my story as widely as possible

Tim Verity

I found myself homeless in a working class seaside town where I had no friends or family to call on, flitting from Bed & Breakfast accommodation to sleeping rough. I spent my time with all manner of ‘characters’, from asylum seekers who were fleeing wars in Kosovo and Sierra Leone to a teenage girl who made her living selling herself.

My world was increasingly filled with violence and chemically induced escapism and I knew I wanted out. The only way I could see how was to get back into education. This was no easy task, juggling work, renting a home and my unstable mental health proved challenging, but eventually I got myself back on track and progressed from GCSEs to a masters degree and training in journalism.

When I wrote to my parents to explain what I had been through as a child, their attitude changed immediately. They finally understood what had caused my breakdown and we were able to start building back the bridges that had been torn down between us.

I began to function again within society, but the legacy of abuse continued to follow me. One of the most troubling aspects was the idea that I might myself become an abuser. So often we hear that offenders have been abused themselves and in the grasping and twisted logic of my young brain I assumed, like some vampiric infection, I was doomed to eventually become a monster myself.

This stopped me from wanting children and was one of many factors resulting from abuse that contributed to the breakdown of romantic relationships. Maturity has since taught me that this is nonsense and I know that my experiences will help me to prepare the children I will one day have for the challenges they may face, while protecting in them the innocence that was stolen from me.

Male survivors are a group that has been unrepresented in the past, which is surprising given what we know. ONS figures show that around 11% of boys under 16 have experienced some form of sexual abuse. There are thought to be in excess of 2 million adult male survivors of abuse in the UK, according to Survivors UK. Over 1,000 men report being raped to the police every year and this is likely to be less than 10% of the real number.

Figures also reveal that three quarter of suicides are by men and it is the single biggest cause of death for men under 50. Men are nearly three times more likely than women to become alcoholics, are more likely to die from illegal drugs and less likely to report mental health issues. All of these issues tie in with the experiences of male survivors and  make it imperative that we discuss them openly and honestly.

When men do speak out, one often avoided subject is arousal during acts of abuse. This is a purely physical response but something which many survivors experience, including myself, and something which can make even our closest loved ones uncomfortable. In the case of male on male abuse it presents a particular set of difficulties, tied up with notions of masculinity and sexuality.

Some of the shame for men also stems from being unable to stop the person who assaults us.  Men are brought up to be strong and to fail to fight off an attacker can feel like we have ‘allowed’ the abuse to happen, and therefore deserved it.

Thankfully more and more survivors are talking about their experiences, including men. The revelations around child abusers in football coaching that were sparked by Andy Woodward are one sign of this. Reading about other survivors was a huge source of support for me over the years, which is why I too want to share my story as widely as possible.

I strongly believe that the more we are heard, believed and understood, the less power there is for abusers to stifle and coerce potential victims. We need to be sending the message to people who have survived abuse that they aren't alone and are not damaged, disturbed or in any way abnormal.

Nothing will ever take away what has happened to us and I will forever have to fight the urge to spiral down into the well of negative feelings and thoughts abuse has left me with, but while the war may continue a defining battle has been won.

Neil Day of Park Lane in Ropley, Hampshire, was found guilty of six counts of gross indecency with a child and one count of indecent assault against a child at Guildford Crown Court in January. He previously pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing indecent images of children uncovered during his arrest.

Tim Verity is a journalist, writer and advocate for Child Sexual Abuse survivors. Visit his website at timverity.com or follow him on Twitter @TimVerity. He writes under a pseudonym.

Homeless Man & Mom's Fire-Fighter Boyfriend Among Today's P&Ps

Mom's boyfriend likes 13 y/o better - Florida
Louisiana man abuses 2 girls 2 years - Illinois
Man pleads guilty to touching girl - Maryland
Homeless man abuses & photos girls - New Hampshire
Man attempts suicide, sentenced 25 yrs anyway - Oklahoma

Victim’s mother testifies in firefighter child sex case

Fort Myers Beach firefighter accused of having

sexual relationship with minor

FORT MYERS, Fla. — An underage girl started shaking, crying and getting emotional when her mother confronted her about a suspected sexual relationship she was having with a former Fort Myers Beach firefighter, the mother testified in court Wednesday.

The mother described what happened when she began to suspect the relationship between 28-year-old Stephen Reynaert, and her daughter, who was 13 when the year-long affair began.

“You better pray to God this isn’t what I think this is,” she said to Reynaert, according to her testimony.

video 1:18

WINK News does not identify victims of sexual assault or their immediate family members.

She then hit him in the face and kicked him out of the place they were staying while on vacation in Englewood, she said.

This unfortunate report doesn't explain the above sentence, but it appears Reynaert and the mother had a relationship, which prompts me, once again, to ask single moms to be very, very careful who you allow into your home and your children's lives.

The mother and the girl went to stay with relatives once the girl spoke up about the relationship, and they reported it to police five days later, the mother testified.

Reynaert resigned from the Fort Myers Beach Fire Department shortly after his arrest. He pleaded not guilty to felony sexual activity with a child in September.

Reynaert interrupted the testimony several times Wednesday, coughing into his microphone while the woman was being questioned. He stared down the prosecuting attorney, and the judge briefly stopped the proceedings and instructed him to stop.

Wednesday’s proceedings were in advance of the formal trial, which is unlikely to begin until March.

Louisiana man accused of child sexual abuse in Illinois

BY KAITLYN SCHWERS

St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly announced this week that a man from Louisiana was charged with seven felony counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving two children, a 10-year-old girl and a 12-year-old girl.

The man was identified in a news release as David H. Derousse, of West Monroe, Lousiana.

The charges state that Derousse, 69, “knowingly committed an act of sexual conduct” with the two minors. Court records allege that the abuse happened during a two-year period, from August 2014 to August 2016.

The Mascoutah Police Department investigated the case.

Bail for Derousse was set at $75,000. Mascoutah police said the man turned himself in Tuesday afternoon and posted bond.

Court records indicated that the case has pending grand jury actions.

Mascoutah, IL

Maryland man pleads guilty to decade-old

child sex-abuse charge

Dan Dearth, Herald Mail

Russell E. Sines, 37, entered a guilty plea Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court to one count of sex abuse of a minor.

A former Hagerstown man will be held without bond until he is sentenced in a few months on a charge that he sexually abused a minor more than a decade ago at a home in the city's West End.

Russell E. Sines, 37, entered a guilty plea Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court to one count of sex abuse of a minor.

Charges of sexual solicitation of a minor and third-degree sex offense were dropped in exchange for the plea.

Sines' sentencing hearing was deferred for 60 days. He will be held at the Washington County Detention Center until then.

Washington County Deputy State's Attorney Joseph Michael told the court during Tuesday's hearing that Hagerstown police recently reported a person came forward and said Sines inappropriately touched a young girl several years ago while he was baby-sitting her at a home.

Court records show the inappropriate conduct occurred sometime between Jan. 1, 2004, and Dec. 31, 2004.

Michael said Sines and the girl were wrestling when he reached down her pants and solicited her to perform a sexual act, which the girl declined to do.

A short time later, the two resumed watching a movie, and Sines tried to touch her again, Michael said.

He said Sines also sent a letter to the girl's mother to apologize, but the correspondence failed to specify details.

Defense Attorney Thomas Tamm said during the hearing that Sines did not penetrate the victim's genitals when he reached down her pants.

Sines was charged in connection with this case in an indictment on March 21, according to online court records.

Hagerstown, MD

Homeless NH sex offender charged with making child porn, repeated sex abuse

CONCORD, New Hampshire — A homeless registered sex offender has been arrested for sexually assaulting a young child and manufacturing child porn.

Detectives were given information and evidence Sunday that Gary Chalifoux, 45, had sexually assaulted a young child and manufactured child sexual abuse images.

video 1:15

Search warrants and multiple interviews were conducted as a result of the investigation. This established that Chalifoux had committed numerous sexual-related crimes against a young child, police said.

An arrest warrant was issued for Chalifoux. He was located at a residence in Manchester and was taken into custody without incident.

He was charged with two counts of duty to report - registration of online identifiers, two counts of manufacture of child sexual abuse images, three counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault, and two counts of possession of child sexual abuse images.

Detectives are trying to identify any other children that may have been in Chalifoux's care or presence in the recent past.

Chalifoux's bail was set at $360,000 and he was arraigned Wednesday morning.

The investigation is ongoing and more charges are possible.

Oklahoma man who attempted suicide amid child sex abuse allegations handed 25 years

By Harrison Grimwood Tulsa World 

A Tulsa man who reportedly tried to kill himself amid allegations of child sexual abuse was sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday in Tulsa County District Court.

Carl Wayne Lynch, 45, pleaded guilty to two counts of child sexual abuse and a count of forcible oral sodomy. District Judge William D. LaFortune imposed the sentence, according to court documents.

Lynch pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a teenage girl who was known to him. He told investigators in 2014 that he had abused the girl since she was 16 years old. However, the girl told investigators the abuse had been occurring since she was 13, according to court documents.

Days after initially denying the allegations, Lynch tried to commit suicide, according to a probable cause affidavit.

"Carl Lynch's wife discovered him on the couch in a poor state of health," Tulsa Police Officer Jeremie Dawes states in the affidavit. "She located empty bottles of prescription medication, alcohol, NyQuil, Tylenol and sleep aids."

Lynch typed out at least five suicide notes implying he raped the girl "and that he was sorry," the affidavit states.

Sorry he raped the girl, or sorry he was caught?

Fear Of Rise In Child Sex Abuse After Hurricane Matthew In Haiti

Carey Lodge CHRISTIAN TODAY JOURNALIST    


A girl looks back in an area destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in Les Anglais, Haiti  Reuters

Fears of a rise in child abuse, sexual violence, child labour and child trafficking in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti has prompted aid organisations working in the region to step up their long-term efforts.

Christian charity World Vision is scaling up its plans to set up protection centres for children who have suffered as a result of the devastating storm.

Matthew ripped through Haiti last week, killing more than 1,000 people, destroying thousands of homes and displacing more than 1.3 million people. Around 100,000 children are now unable to attend school after their school buildings were either devastated by the storm or used as emergency shelters.

World Vision has distributed aid to more than 15,000 people in the aftermath of the hurricane, and is now planning to set up 27 Child Friendly Spaces (CFSs) in the areas worst affected by the crisis.

"Natural disasters, sadly, always cause an increase in cases of child abuse, sexual violence, child labour and child trafficking. We are very concerned that the current situation in Haiti will give rise to such cases as a consequence of the latest disaster," said Fabiola Brignol, advocacy manager for World Vision Haiti.

"We fear that next big disaster to hit Haiti in the wake of Hurricane Matthew will be a child protection crisis. According to a FAFO report published in 2015, 207,000 Haitian children were trapped in exploitative domestic labour. Almost one in three had lost a parent and over 10 per cent were orphans.

"These children are susceptible to beatings, sexual assaults and other abuses. And worryingly it is the areas in the south of Haiti that have the highest rates of child domestic labour. World Vision fears that following the devastation of Hurricane Matthew which destroyed large parts of the south, desperate families unable to support their children will push them into domestic labour." Or worse!

Brignol warned that many children are unable to access basic necessities and medical care, and are "facing massive risks that make them particularly vulnerable."

The new CFSs will offer psychological help, as well as a safe place for children at risk of being separated from their parents.


Haitians receive aid in St Louis  World Vision

World Vision has already distributed emergency supplies in some of the worst-affected areas, including food, blankets, water purification tablets and hygiene kits.

"As we continue to meet these immediate needs, we're also beginning to plan and think about the medium and long term scenario and how we can help," national director John Hasse said.

"Housing and food will be a big focus. The whole idea is how do we help people restore their basic necessities and being able to do as much of that as possible in a short period of time. Getting them a roof, restoring their access to clean water, and making sure they have access to sanitary conditions in their home so they have a sense of dignity is also very important."

To support the World Vision Haiti Hurricane Appeal, please click here.

    St Louis du Nord, Haiti

Warning to Parents Who Send Little Kids to Public Washrooms Unescorted

Two Brothers Go Into Public Bathroom… But When Only One Returns, Dad Reacts Immediately

A Florida mother and father learned the most horrible way possible this week why little kids should always be escorted when they use a public bathroom.

The mother, father and their two boys were dining at a McDonald’s in Jacksonville when their two sons — one six years of age, the other seven — went to the bathroom together as per the “buddy system.”

Unfortunately, the system did not work. Moments later, the older boy returned to the table by himself. This troubled the boy’s parents, so his father then walked to the bathroom himself to check on his younger boy.

When the father entered the restroom, he saw a black man emerge from a stall and walk out. Inside that same stall the father found his younger boy pulling up his pants.

Without a moment to the lose, the father then hightailed out of McDonald’s and chased the pedophile, a 33-year-old homeless man later identified as Keith Andre Sykes, until unfortunately the suspect got away.

Police later found Sykes hiding in a dumpster and booked him on a charge of capital sexual battery. 

He hopefully has a very lengthy prison sentence awaiting him.