His criminal life began in a broken home. Now he wants to help others

WARNING: Some of the content in this article will be distressing for some readers

Howard Ukrainetz of London, Ont., said he wasn't given the best start in life. 

Ukrainetz, 27, grew up in a troubled home and witnessed his mother suffer abuse at the hands of men he didn't really know. By the time he was a teenager, Ukrainetz was a criminal, charged with drug possession, theft and assault. It's a record that follows him today, despite having turned his life around.

Ukrainetz said his mother was a sex-trade worker, who also had a drug problem. He said he did not know his dad. 

"She worked with a lot of bikers and a lot of people that she probably shouldn't have been working with," said Ukrainetz. He said he is no longer in contact with his mother. 

"Before I was even out of public school, I was pretty exposed to crime and drugs and different things that I feel like no child should be exposed to."

Before age 10, Ukrainetz saw someone throw his mother down a concrete staircase, breaking her back. "She also had her face put on a red hot burner and part of her face melted off."

The Children's Aid Society was in and out of Ukrainetz's life, and he spent some time in group homes over the years.

"I loved my mom," said Ukrainetz. "It took me a long time to realize that she was ruining not only her life, but my life."

As a teenager, Ukrainetz started using crystal meth and getting into trouble with the law.

"Probably for five or six years, I was steadily doing crime — if not every day, at least three or four times a week."

Ukrainetz was in and out of jail on a number of charges over the years, but his longest stint at the Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre was for 2½ months in 2014.

While there, Ukrainetz saw a man die.

"Someone was given fentanyl and was told it was cocaine and they did more than enough to kill them.