When Calvin Flynn noticed his son wasn’t in the basement of their St. John’s home on Monday, he knew right away where he would be – Bowring Park.
Flynn’s heart sank when he soon discovered his 22-year-old son – who has autism and needs the 24-hour care of both his parents – in the back of a police car.
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary confirmed Tuesday that a man has been charged with sexual assault following an incident at the park around 3:30 p.m. Monday. The Criminal Code of Canada defines a charge of sexual assault as an assault “that is committed in circumstances of a sexual nature such that the sexual privacy of the victim is violated.”
“I know my son likes to hug somebody, and I know if he went to the park without me with him, if the opportunity came up, he would hug somebody, and that’s exactly what happened,” Flynn said.
One woman wrote in an already widely shared Facebook post that she was sunbathing in Bowring Park when a man jumped on top of her and grabbed her by the bottom of her panties. She said she was calling for help and he kept asking for another hug. The woman did not respond to CBC News’ request for comment.
“I can understand 100 percent how she felt because my son is a big boy,” Flynn said.
Calvin Flynn’s son’s art covers the walls in their west-end St. John’s home, including this tribute to people with autism. (Ariana Kelland/CBC)
Earlier that day, Flynn said he told his son it was too hot for them to go on their daily walk to the park near their home. He later discovered his son had gone off on his own, something Flynn said had only happened once when his son was a child.
Flynn commended the RNC staff who responded to the incident for their compassion. He said an officer told him no one was injured, but the woman wanted to press charges of sexual assault.
“[The officer] said, “I understand your situation.” So [they] they released our son into our custody and brought him home,” Flynn said.
Flynn said his son was not a monster who intended to hurt anyone, but a gentle man who enjoyed drawing, flags, eating fast food and walking in Bowring Park with his father, something he no longer can do because of a police order to stay away.
“I’m sorry that this happened, I’m sorry that the system failed us and she definitely failed her and I can’t take back what happened, but I want to tell you that my son did not intentionally want to hurt or sexually assault you attacked,” he said, turning to the woman.
“He doesn’t have the mental capacity to do something like that. Yesterday, what he did .. he has no idea about it.”
Flynn said the incident has devastated his family and said it highlights how people like his son fall through the cracks and are failed by the systems designed to protect and care for them.
He has been waiting 4 years for a psychiatrist
In 2018, Flynn and his wife became legal guardians after it was determined that their son’s disability made him unable to make decisions related to his care. They provide continuous care in their own home.
After his son’s high school graduation, they packed up and sold their home and belongings on the south coast of Labrador in search of better services and programming.
They moved to St. John’s so his son could attend a transition program at the Autism Society of Newfoundland and Labrador, but Flynn said he was told his son was not a good fit for that program. What followed, he said, was a series of failed programs and a chronic lack of medical care, adding that he waited four years for his child to see a psychiatrist.
“I need someone to prescribe the right medicine, I need someone to help us see a psychiatrist. I need someone to come and spend time with him, I need someone to give my wife a break,” Flynn said through tears.
“I guess I need a health care system, a health care system for a special needs person who can’t speak for themselves.”
Calvin Flynn’s son has a drawing room in the family’s basement. He says his 22-year-old son likes flags, drawing and walking with his father. (Ariana Kelland/CBC)
Flynn said it weighs on him and his wife every day that there will come a time when their son will likely outlive them.
“In ten years he’ll be 32. In ten years he’ll be 42. I’ll be in a home somewhere, who’s going to take care of him?”
“They’re going to fall through the cracks and one of these days society is going to be here with a bunch of autistic adults with absolutely no help, and then where do we go?”
Flynn spoke through tears as his son could be heard below, unaware of how deeply Monday’s incident had shaken those around him. What he doesn’t know is that he will be fingerprinted in the coming weeks and that his case will be filed in provincial court in the coming months.
“There are hundreds of people in my son’s predicament. Yesterday was his turn. It’s going to be somebody else’s turn tomorrow,” Flynn said.
“This will be a news clip for one of the media outlets. And then it’s forgotten until the next time it happens. And if me sitting here crying and saying what I have to say helped someone… it was worth it. “
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