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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.