City council joining other Niagara municipalities, one resident still has fears of her abuser
The list of Niagara municipalities demanding justice reform by the federal and provincial governments now has St. Catharines on board.
There was strong, passionate support last night for Councillor Kevin Townsend's motion, especially after hearing from residents.
Elizabeth Emerson says she was abused for many years as a child, and following the Welland assault of a little girl, she now sleeps in her kids' room, making sure all doors and windows are locked. "As a survivor who's abuser is now out, again, that was released after 3-years of good behaviour, after stealing 10-years of my childhood, I fear every day that he will follow through with the threats that he has given me."
Many speakers and councillors acknowledged the threat of vigilantism.
However, resident Saleh Waziruddin said bail reform would not have made any difference in the Welland assault of the little girl, as under half of all court cases in Ontario last year were granted bail.
He also pointed to a study. "The University of Ottawa did a study of over 400 men released from prison over 2-years... and guess what they found? Those who were kept in prison for their full sentence were 56% more likely to re-offend than people let out early on parole."
He says toughening the justice system is not the answer, but early detection of violence and abuse.
The motion passed by council included making sex offender registry public, which is also what Niagara Falls, Welland and other towns have done.
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