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Girl Guides in Greater Victoria struggle due to lack of adults Page a3
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Wednesday, July 24, 2013
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through referrals from youth detention, probation officers and counsellors, but Chiu said all clients will leave the house with direction in their lives and a new support network. “This is small, intimate and is an opportunity for young men to bond and rebuild relationships and get counselling,” she said. “For many of these young men, their family atmosphere is not healthy. This give them the opportunity to live like a family. The staff become like parents, aunts and uncles.” Turning around the lives of drug addicted youths, who are often alienated from family, friends and school, requires a full-court press of services and planning.
The justice presiding over the sentencing hearing of a former Saanich priest found guilty of touching a young person for a sexual purpose has delayed her decision until September. Justice J. Miriam Gropper said she didn’t want to rush her decision on handing down her sentence to Phil Jacobs. Crown prosecutor Clare Jennings argued Friday during the sentencing hearing for a four- to six-month sentence for Jacobs, following by two years probation. He would also be put on the National Sex Offender Registry, and be included in the National DNA Data Bank. The guilty charge stems from a witness testimony regarding tutoring sessions at Jacobs’ house on the grounds of St. Joseph the Worker Parish on Burnside Road West. The church is connected to St. Joseph the Worker school, where the young victim went to school. The witness said he ended up in a position of laying on the couch with his legs over Jacobs’ lap. During testimony in December, the young man told the court that Jacobs’ right hand would slide up and down the witness’s left thigh over his pants – “he went from my knee to my groin back and forth ... the back of his hand touched my genitals.” Gropper agreed with the Crown’s assertion that Jacobs’ touching of the victim’s genitals was “deliberate,” and not accidental brushing. According to a psychiatric report conducted after the guilty verdict, handed down in February, Jacobs is deemed at a low to moderate risk to re-offend.
PleaSe See: Connections crucial, Page A4
PleaSe See: Crime a ‘breach of trust,’ Page A2
Edward Hill/News staff
Beacon of Hope House co-ordinator Keltie Manderville, left, and Maj. Kathie Chiu, executive director of the Salvation Army’s addictions and rehabilitation centre, show a typical bedroom in the detox facility for teen boys. The Salvation Army has re-opened the facility at a new location this year in Saanich.
A nondescript 1970s-era home in the Uptown area of Saanich holds six simple but tidy bedrooms, gardens, offices and a long dinner table. For young men struggling with drug or alcohol addictions in Greater Victoria, it’s the home away from home to regain control of their lives. “There are very few treatment centres for youth (in B.C.). You’ve got to scour the province for a place to take youth and have it not cost a fortune. This program is really needed in the Capital Region. Youth need a place to go,” said Maj. Kathie Chiu, executive director of the Salvation Army’s addictions and rehabilitation centre. Chiu and other Salvation Army staff gave
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Kyle Slavin
Beacon of Hope House opens in Saanich as the region’s primary rehabilitation centre for teenage boys
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SL13
Priest’s sentencing delayed until September
Giving hope to addicted youths
Edward Hill
Offer Expires July 30, 2013
community groups an inside look at the renewed Beacon of Hope House last Friday, which relocated from Vic West to Saanich earlier this year. Up to six young men between 13 and 18 years old can stay at the house at any given time, typically for a month to three months. “It is a very home-like atmosphere,” said Sarah Jenkinson, a counsellor at Hope House. “It’s important for youth in detox not to be institutionalized. This (facility) blends in well with the neighbourhood.” The Vancouver Island Health Authority chips in 25 per cent of the Hope House’s $550,000 annual operating costs, and the Salvation Army funds the remainder for six beds, and 14 counsellors and residential staff members. Youth can find their way to Hope House
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