Make those who release offenders responsible for their future crimes

January 25, 2016 · 0 Comments

In the late ‘70s, as a Peel Regional cop, I was so surprised when Peel Police worked so hard to finally arrest a person then called “The Mississauga Rapist.”
Not soon after his arrest, he was sent to the Clark Institute in Toronto for an assessment. While there, as he was being escorted by a very senior guard one day, he escaped and was again on the loose. As a young cop, I was so disappointed in how the system didn’t seem to take these crimes as serious as I thought it should. I left the force in ‘81 because of how messed up I thought the judicial system was.
Fast forward to today in King Township. Here, we see more than 500 local and concerned residence crowd into a town meeting to argue why a convicted sex offender, who has been labelled a danger to children and 100 per cent guaranteed to re-offend, is now relocated to their neighbourhood. Why there? Because he broke curfew at his last home in Hamilton.
When the authorities state that this person is a high risk to re-offend, we have a real failure to protect the public, who are the very people employing the police who are to enforce the rules we think are good. What could be done?
I consider two very reasonable solutions here, one of which will never happen.
The first is to label this individual as a dangerous offender, like Paul Bernardo, so his release never has to happen.
Or, have all the people of authority on the parole board, or who ever believe he should be released into the public, swear an oath that states that these same people who are freeing him will be tried for each and every crime he may commit after release. They would all be the “co-accused,” and I can guarantee you that they would think twice about ever releasing anyone, let alone someone as dangerous to society as Keith Theodore Constantin.
Brian Perras,
Caledon