CHARLOTTETOWN — The Opposition in P.E.I. is calling for an inquiry into the bizarre case of a non-verbal, autistic woman whose caregivers at a group home claimed she had accused her father of sexual assault.
The father was never charged, but the case made national headlines when a judge concluded the province acted in a "deplorable" manner by failing to conduct an investigation into the source of the allegations.
The Crown dropped the case after a psychologist assessed the woman's ability to communicate via a widely disputed method known as facilitated communication.
The psychologist concluded the 35-year-old woman, who has the intellectual capacity of a two-year-old, could not have made the allegations attributed to her.
Progressive Conservative health critic James Aylward says the province should issue a directive ordering all government-assisted agencies to stop using facilitated communication.
Aylward says an inquiry is needed to determine how this "deeply troubling" case was handled, and to make sure no other family endures a similar ordeal.
