Heather Butts
CTV National News, Toronto Correspondent
Melissa Lopez-Martinez
CTVNews.ca Writer
A controversial decision made by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) last week to move serial rapist Paul Bernardo to a minimum security prison has been met with much scrutiny, particularly among the family deeply impacted by another notable killer.
Rodney Stafford, the father of Tori Stafford, an Ontario girl who was kidnapped, murdered and raped in 2009, says Bernardo's transfer has re-victimized him and his family.
"It's just another slap in the face for more Canadian families," Stafford told CTV News.
Similar to Bernardo, Tori's killers, Michael Rafferty and Terri-Lynne Mcclintic, were transferred to a lower security prison after serving several years of a life sentence for first degree murder. In 2018, McClintic was briefly transferred to an Indigenous healing lodge in Saskatchewan. However, two months later she was sent to a multi-level federal women's prison following outcry over the transfer.
Rafferty was initially serving his sentence in a maximum security prison in Port-Cartier, Que., but in 2018 he was switched to a medium security prison in La Macaza; the same facility Paul Bernardo was recently sent to.
Bernardo, who was convicted for raping and murdering Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy in 1995, has already served 30 years in a maximum-level security prison. However legal experts say most prisoners in a maximum security facility are usually transferred to a lower levelled prison after two years.
The CSC has yet to explain why Bernardo was transferred, though experts speculate it could be due to several factors including security threats against Bernardo or even adjustments to the facility's resources.
Public outcry shortly followed the announcement as Ontario Premier Doug Ford had stern words for Bernardo, saying he should "rot in hell" and even called for the firing of the CSC's commissioner, Anne Kelly. The CSC has since issued a statement assuring Canadians of the security parameters of all facilities, no matter the security level and noted Bernardo's transfer is being reviewed.
Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino also offered his sympathies to the families of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, stating he would be addressing the transfer to the CSC and commissioner directly.