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Cameron sits around the house all day and waits. That’s almost all he’s allowed to do.

As a young offender serving the last third of his two-year sentence in the community for sexual assault, he can’t leave the small bungalow where he and his mother live.

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The 18-year-old cannot be identified under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act and neither can his mother. Both names are pseudonyms.

Cameron is not allowed to talk to anyone under the age of 16. He doesn’t go to school or have a job.

His day consists of heating up his frozen lunch and loading the dishwasher. He’s barred from using the Internet. He has lost most interest in television. He completes the list of chores his mother leaves for him, spending time gardening in the yard.

After that’s done, he waits. His house is his jail. His mother is one of his only friends.

“He says it’s almost easier at EYOC (Edmonton Young Offender Centre) to sit in that cell than to sit at home and make the day go by,” says his mother Samantha. “All the whole world is outside and he’s watching them go by.”