Alleged abuse of disabled at Ont. institution

A man has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and other developmentally disabled people alleging decades of abuse at an Ontario institution he claims was a "prison-like environment."

David McKillop of Gananoque, Ont.,was admitted to the Rideau Regional Centre in Smiths Falls, Ont.,in 1955 when he was five, and stayed a ward of the institution until 1972.

He is suing the province of Ontario claiming "punitive damages."

McKillop alleges he was forced to clean floors and toilets with a toothbrush, wear embarrassing nightgowns all day, and says he was violently kicked in the groin by a staff member, which left him unable to have children.

The allegations contained in the statement of claim have not been proven in court.

The Rideau operated from 1951 to March 2009.

In July, an Ontario Superior Court officially certified a $1-billion class action suit launched by former residents of another facility for the developmentally disabled, the Huronia Regional Centre in Orillia, Ont.