Family Law Quack's

CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD
Published on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010 12:00AM EST Last updated on Friday, Jan. 29, 2010 4:10AM EST
Globe and Mail
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A psychological associate who became a "go-to" expert in southeastern Ontario for child custody disputes has been charged with perjury, obstructing justice and fraud. Essentially, as a Durham Regional Police news release said yesterday, the 63-year-old man, Gregory Carter, of Whitby, Ont., is accused of posing as a psychologist, both in and outside court.

The criminal charges - three of fraud, two of obstructing justice and two of perjury - mirror complaints at the College of Psychologists of Ontario, which has referred charges of professional misconduct based on similar allegations to its discipline committee for a hearing.

But the allegations only scratch at the surface of the man whose testimony in Family Court, where he was repeatedly referred to as a psychologist and addressed as doctor, was sometimes a central factor in judicial decisions about who was awarded custody of children.

Though most of Ontario's 2,700 psychologists and 500 psychological associates can assess, treat and diagnose behavioural and mental conditions alike - psychologists have doctoral degrees and associates master's - some, like Mr. Carter, also have a limitation on their practice.

In his case, he is prohibited from making a diagnosis without supervision. The College complaints allege that Mr. Carter misrepresented his credentials, authored a report based on inadequate information and made a diagnosis he wasn't allowed to make.

Without knowing the number of cases he testified in, it is virtually impossible to estimate how many families Mr. Carter may have affected.

But in one recent case, Ontario Superior Court Judge Craig Perkins said Mr. Carter's evidence "tips the balance" in his decision to remove a little girl from her grandparents' custody and give her father sole custody.
The grandparents, with whom the girl, then nine, had lived for most of her life, not only lost custody but also had to pay $7,000 for the very assessment that cost them their granddaughter.

In his Nov. 25, 2008, judgment, Judge Perkins first introduced Mr. Carter on Page 6, where he wrote, "There was a consent order for an assessment by Doctor Gregory L. Carter, psychologist." The judge referred to him as "Dr. Carter" 32 times, and once called him "an impressive, thoughtful witness with considerable experience and expertise."

The grandparents can't be identified by name, as the child's identity is protected in Family Court. But the grandfather has spent almost a year documenting the clash between Mr. Carter's credentials - a master's degree in psychology and an unspecified doctorate he obtained from Pacific Western University, discredited in a 2004 United States Government Accountability investigation as a "diploma mill" - and how he either advertised himself or allowed himself to be advertised in court proceedings.

Included with the grandfather's letter of complaint to the College were copies of Mr. Carter's 2006 letterhead (which read, "Dr. Gregory Carter, Practice in Psychology"), letters from an Oshawa legal clinic addressed to "Dr. Gregory Carter, psychologist," and several insurance claim forms where Mr. Carter identified himself as a "Clinical Psychologist."
In a lengthy reply to the grandfather's complaint that is dated June 26 last year, Mr. Carter admitted to a number of failings.

While he denied any billing impropriety, he told the College he was "embarrassed by the deficiencies in my records," acknowledged that "I did not adequately clarify" with the grandparents "my status with the College," and "completely overlooked the impact of the information" on the insurance company, offering to cover any "overpayments." He enclosed samples of his new business cards, letterhead and brochures.

Mr. Carter also admitted he never should have conducted "the custody and access assessment" in the first place because he had been so involved with the family previously that "I recognize now that it would be impossible to render an opinion that would not be perceived as tainted with bias." The grandfather's complaint is still pending at the College and is separate from the two that already have been referred for a hearing.

In addition to testifying regularly in court, Mr. Carter also served as a member of the community advisory board of the former Whitby Mental Health Centre, was on the Toronto-Peel Mental Health Implementation Task Force, did work for Durham Children's Aid Society and was the chair of Durham Mental Health Services. In another case, Mr. Carter appeared to be diagnosing a father whom he had never met as a narcissist, while harshly disputing a psychologist's diagnosis that the mother, who had hired him, suffered from "borderline personality disorder," one of the most destructive psychiatric conditions there is.

It is that psychologist who has lodged the second complaint at the College. The father had been seeking temporary primary custody of the couple's two young sons but on Oct. 16, 2008, Ontario Superior Court Judge Alex Sosna dismissed the psychologist's assessment of the mother and accepted Mr. Carter's critique of it.
While Mr. Carter denied in his Dec. 7, 2008, reply to the College investigator that he had diagnosed the father, in his report two months earlier, he wrote that the father's profile matched the profile of individuals with narcissistic personality disorder. Mr. Carter also apologized for "the confusion" about his credentials. Judge Sosna dismissed the father's motion, gave the mother the matrimonial home and joint custody, and awarded costs of almost $14,000 against the father. He had to move out of the house, also his primary place of business.
Mr. Carter didn't return several messages.
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Credentials unchallenged in case of man accused of posing as psychologist
CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD
Published on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010 12:00AM EST Last updated on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010 3:43AM EST
globeandmail.com
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Who knew what about Greg Carter, and when?

One thing is clear, and that's that some people knew or should have known that the 63-year-old criminally charged this week for posing as a psychologist wasn't what he appeared to be.

The Globe and Mail has learned that at least one lawyer involved in a child custody case where Mr. Carter was described as a psychologist soon discovered he wasn't.

The Globe has a copy of a letter that lawyer Elizabeth Saad received from Robert Feldman, an investigator with the College of Psychologists of Ontario, on Sept. 15, 2008. She had contacted the college that day, asking about Mr. Carter's credentials. Mr. Feldman faxed the letter - telling her Mr. Carter "is not registered as a psychologist with the College" and that he was also not allowed to offer diagnoses - to her Whitby office.

This was almost exactly a month after Ms. Saad, asked by Ontario Superior Court Justice Theresa Maddalena, "then is Dr. Carter also a psychologist?" replied, "Yes he is, Your Honour."
Ms. Saad was representing Mr. S., a father seeking temporary primary custody of his two young sons. It was on that day, Aug. 14, that Judge Maddalena granted the mother, Mrs. S., an order to retain "Dr. Gregory Carter" to submit a critique of a psychologist's report which had strongly recommended Mr. S. get custody.

The parents are identified only by an initial to protect their sons' identities.
The matter continued on at least two dates before Ontario Superior Court Justice Alex Sosna until, on Oct. 16, he delivered a stunning judgment, tossing out the psychologist's report and accepting in glowing terms "Dr. Carter's" recommendation for joint custody.

Judge Sosna also dismissed the psychologist's finding that the mother was suffering from borderline personality disorder and instead accepted Mr. Carter's suggestion that Mr. S. was likely a narcissist - a suggestion he made despite never having spoken to Mr. S. The judge also awarded Mrs. S. exclusive possession of the matrimonial home and assigned about $14,000 in costs to the father.

Mr. S. said yesterday that he believes that, after learning Mr. Carter wasn't a psychologist, Ms. Saad attempted to argue that he wasn't qualified, but that she was cut short by Judge Sosna. Mr. S. said, however, that Ms. Saad did present the letter to the court, though whether the judge ever read it is unknown.

This couldn't be confirmed because Ms. Saad didn't return detailed e-mails or a phone message left with her receptionist yesterday. The receptionist at one point said the lawyer wouldn't comment because of confidentiality, but Mr. S. in fact had waived solicitor-client privilege in an e-mail yesterday.

However, at about the same time, another lawyer in Ms. Saad's small office, Sandra Scovino, was representing a father involved in a battle for custody of a then-nine-year-old girl.

As far back as December of 2006, Mr. Carter had suggested in a letter to Ms. Scovino that he would be willing to act as an independent assessor in the case, though he had already worked with the little girl as a therapist, hired by her grandparents, with whom she had lived for much of her life.

Three months later, in March of 2007, Mr. Carter, or, as Ontario Superior Court Justice Craig Perkins referred to him 32 times, "Dr. Carter," was hired by Ms. Scovino on behalf of the father to do an assessment.

Mr. Carter's report is dated Oct. 22, 2007, and by late October the following year - after Ms. Saad got the news he wasn't a psychologist - he was testifying before Judge Perkins as one.
Indeed, the judge cited Mr. Carter, whom he pronounced "an impressive, thoughtful witness with considerable experience and expertise," and his report and testimony as factors which "tipped the balance" in his decision to give the father custody.

The grandparents had to pay court costs of about $40,000, including $7,000 for the report which saw their granddaughter taken from them.

In the first case, both Mr. S. and the psychologist Mr. Carter critiqued complained to the college. Mr. Carter has been charged with professional misconduct and awaits a disciplinary hearing.
In the second case, the grandfather has also complained to the college, but his complaint is still pending.
The irony is that, though Mr. Carter was being described in family court as a psychologist and addressed as "Dr. Carter," and though for some years his business cards and letterhead identified him as "Dr. Gregory Carter, Practice in Psychology," it appears no one in authority publicly challenged his credentials.

Mr. Carter does have a doctoral degree, which he has described in writing both as "a PhD in psychology" and a PhD in "clinical psychology" and which he has said he obtained either in 1991 or 1992 from Pacific Western University, discredited in a 2004 United States Government Accountability Office investigation as a "diploma mill."

He was charged by Durham Regional Police on Monday with perjury, obstructing justice and fraud.
The Whitby, Ont., man is a psychological associate, meaning his registration is based on a master's degree. Psychologists, on the other hand, have doctoral degrees. And while most of Ontario's 2,700 psychologists and 500 psychological associates can assess, treat and diagnose alike, some, like Mr. Carter, have a limitation on their practice.

According to Dr. Catherine Yarrow, the registrar of the college, the limit on Mr. Carter's practice - that he isn't allowed to offer a diagnosis on his own - was imposed when he first registered as an associate in 2001.
Mr. Carter never applied to the college to have the restriction removed..