We call it a criminal justice system, but for the families of murder victims Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, our parole and prison systems have become sources of repeated indignities to the memory of their children.
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Once again, infamous serial killer Paul Bernardo is back in the news as the parole system has handed another insult to innocent victims of his horrendous crimes.
The Parole Board of Canada (PBC) has told the French and Mahaffy families they cannot take part in person in an upcoming parole hearing for the sadist who killed their precious daughters, citing vague “security” concerns.
In an open letter, Tim Danson, the long-time lawyer for the French and Mahaffy families, said the PBC recently told the families they could not be present for the hearing.
“This is not only unacceptable, but also remarkably insensitive to the Mahaffy and French families,” Danson wrote.
“Absent exceptional circumstances, the families have a statutory right to read their victim impact statements in person,” he said.
Danson told Toronto radio station Newstalk1010 the families want to be physically present at the parole hearing in order to emphasize the devastating repercussions of their children’s murder.
Kristen, 15, and Leslie, 14, were abducted and murdered near their homes in St. Catharines in 1992 and 1991 respectively.
In 1995, Bernardo was sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility for parole for 25 years and declared a dangerous offender. Last year, he was moved from the maximum security Millhaven Penitentiary in Ontario to a medium security facility, La Macaza, in Quebec.
In the radio interview, Danson asked just who’s a security threat? The French and Mahaffy families comported themselves with the utmost dignity and restraint throughout the trial and at his first parole hearing.
“If they’re referring to Paul Bernardo himself, well that would be remarkable. If that’s the case, then what is he doing in medium security? He should have been sent back to maximum,” he told talk show host John Moore.
Bernardo is a monster and our justice system is enabling the sick, sadistic way in which he continues to torture his victims’ families.
How many times and in how many ways can the criminal justice system be allowed to do this to decent folk caught in the most hideous of circumstances?