A case currently before Newfoundland and Labrador's Unified Family Court questions how officials handled the troubles of a teenager.

A girl, 15, came to potentially serious harm while in the care of Child, Youth and Family Services, which administers the government's child protection program, court documents show.

"That is an horrific experience for any young person," said St. John's lawyer David Day, commenting on the case of a teenager referred to in court documents simply as K.

K., who comes from a troubled home and cuts herself, was removed from her home by social workers, who placed her in an apartment under supervision.

Court documents say K. still managed to slip out of that apartment, and ended up in a sexual relationship with a 39-year-old man.

According to court documents, there is evidence the man cut her vagina with a carpet knife.

The girl's mother took the case to court, arguing that the agency — which had planned to move the girl to Saskatchewan — never gave the girl a proper chance.

Judge cites complacency

Judge Gillian Butler, in her most recent decision on the case, effectively agreed. She said there is complacency at the top of the agency, and that officials effectively put the girl in conditions that would have been considered unacceptable in her own home.

According to court evidence, the two people supervising K. were untrained.

"It suggests to me that child protection apparently did not maintain constant supervision over her," Day told CBC News.

He said while cases involving children who harm themselves are notoriously complicated, professional supervision in such cases is a necessity.