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Is CAMH really the best place to house violent people found not criminally responsible for their crimes?

It is a question that has to be asked in light of recent events.

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I’m not just talking about the escape of Zhebin Cong, the meat-cleaver killer who we think has fled to China. We also have Ahmed Sualim, a 27-year-old man who escaped Monday.

Thankfully, Sualim was found by police later that day, but we have to ask why he was able to get out in the first place.

Sualam was convicted for a string of armed robberies in 2012. After first being sentenced to 5 ½ years in prison, his status was later determined to be not criminally responsible and was ordered detained at CAMH’s forensic unit.

An Ontario Review Board report found him to be at risk of reoffending and doctors reported him as someone who had previously failed to return to CAMH while out on day passes and someone who did not understand the limits placed on his freedom.