Zachary Miller, the 10-year old boy kidnapped by known pedophile Peter Whitmore, has been found in Kipling. As of this writing, Whitmore is thought to be inside a house with the other 14-year old boy, Jordan Bruyere.
Two thoughts:
- Kipling. I’m starting a category.
- WHY WAS THIS PERSON OUT OF JAIL??!? Check out his history with the law:
“Whitmore is well known in Ontario for a string of high-profile sex assault convictions against children. He was first convicted in 1993 of abduction and five sexual offences involving four young boys and spent 16 months in custody.
Nine days after his release, he took an eight-year-old girl from Guelph, Ont., to Toronto, and was sentenced to 56 months in prison.”
Less than a month after his November 2000 release, he was found in a downtown Toronto motel with a 13-year-old boy. He was sentenced to one year in jail.” (from the ctv.ca story at time of writing)
See a pattern here? There’s more if you want to continue reading.
What do we do with these people? You don’t want them living beside you, but they have to live somewhere. Some have paid their dues and will not re-offend. Some have been punished by their time in prison but will offend as soon as they get out, like this guy.
Florida tracks every sex offender via GPS. They have a registry where you can search your area for predators.
Near as I can tell, Canada has nothing remotely like this. We have a vague RCMP website that sounds like they’re doing something, but provides no information for the average citizen.
Why are we so behind? Will this case spur us to action?
(Thanks to Sonja for the tip)
Kris - I heard this on the radio this morning and thought “hey…Kipling…red paper clip…isn’t that where Dan’s from?”
It’s getting a lot of press…is there something about Kipling that you’re not telling us?
Ben - Yeah, pretty wild stuff. Wasn’t it just this past winter that a young guy from New Brunswick, maybe 20 years old, accessed one of those “convicted predators” list for somewhere in New York and went on a vigilante rampage, killing two sex offenders before taking his own life?
There is defintely a flaw in the system. This guy in Kipling received pathetic sentences for his previous crimes (56 months for kidnapping an eight year old?!). But it is difficult to say if any punishment, save permanent removal from society, would have kept him from re-offending. If changes can’t be made to the judicial system, if the red tape is too thick and the politicians too affraid to take a stand, then major public awareness and education programs are needed. The list is an effective tool, but people also need to be taught how to react to the knowledge of one of their neighbours being on it.
mark - “But it is difficult to say if any punishment, save permanent removal from society, would have kept him from re-offending.”
castration.
I’m somewhat serious. The guy in question is clearly beyond help – if he gets out of jail, he’s going to re-offend. There’s no rehabilitation happening – if he’s going to be let back into society, why not remove his drive to commit these heinous acts?