The victim in the Howard Smith trial breaks down leaving 361 University Ave. courthouse after Smith pleaded guilty to a sexual assault charge against her 35 years ago. (Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun)
Shunted about in the care of the Catholic Children’s Aid Society from the time she was six years old, bounced around more than 22 different foster homes in the previous two years alone, the young teen was relieved when they placed her in the Scarborough home of Howard Smith and his family.
He was a rising star at the TTC, she was given her own room in their four-bedroom house and was initially treated as well as the couple’s two children. She thought she was safe at last.
But in reality, the 14-year-old had been placed in a hornet’s nest. And by the time the CCAS finally heeded her pleas and rescued her, she was 15 and pregnant with Smith’s child.
Now 35 years later, Smith, the retired TTC general superintendent for surface routes, has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a girl between 14 and 16 and having illicit sexual intercourse with a foster daughter between April 26, 1978, and July 13, 1978.
