A report from the the Correctional Service of Canada presents new particulars of Paul Bernardo’s life behind bars — and what led to the controversial determination to switch considered one of Canada’s most notorious killers to a medium safety jail.
Anne Kelly, head of the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), launched a assessment committee’s report this week detailing the jail switch that sparked widespread public outrage.
The assessment concluded that CSC adopted the foundations in transferring Bernardo however stated extra might have been completed for the victims’ households, who felt shocked and betrayed by the transfer. A lawyer for the households continues to name for Bernardo to be despatched again to most safety.
Bernardo, a chosen harmful offender, is serving a life sentence for kidnapping, torturing and killing Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy within the early Nineties. He was additionally discovered responsible of the manslaughter and sexual assault of his 15-year-old sister-in-law Tammy Homolka.
Canada’s privateness commissioner weighed the general public’s curiosity towards Bernardo’s privateness rights and, in a uncommon transfer, allowed the discharge of latest private details about his case.
Right here’s what the 85-page report reveals about Bernardo’s 28 years in jail.
Bernardo’s safety stage was assessed 14 instances between 1999 and 2022. One of many instruments the corrections system makes use of to find out if an inmate is in the proper jail is the “safety reclassification scale.”
Since 1999, that scale produced a rating that really helpful Bernardo be categorised as medium safety. That suggestion was overridden 13 instances over 23 years, protecting Bernardo in a most safety jail.
The rationale given for sustaining Bernardo at most safety was his personal private security. Bernardo wanted “vital safety measures and restrictions on motion,” the assessment committee’s report stated.
WATCH | Outrage over Paul Bernardo’s switch to medium safety jail:
Canada’s jail service is now reviewing its determination to maneuver infamous serial killer and rapist Paul Bernardo from a maximum-security jail to a medium safety facility. The switch has sparked outrage throughout Canada’s political panorama. Bernardo is serving a life sentence for the murders of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy within the early Nineties.
The report stated Bernardo was thought of an “inmate in peril” when he was first despatched to the Kingston Penitentiary in 1995 and he was involuntarily segregated for 18 years till the jail closed.
A closely redacted annex of Bernardo’s institutional chronology suggests he was the “sufferer” in a dozen incidents between 1995-2019.
He was categorised in jail as a “conformist.” Which means he’s “been the sufferer of tried and precise assaults however has not engaged in violence towards different offenders or workers,” the report stated.
Unauthorized objects or contraband have been present in Bernardo’s cells 3 times over the a long time.
In 1995, a razor blade was present in his cell whereas he was in solitary confinement within the Kingston Penitentiary. Costs have been laid and later withdrawn after a weapon was present in his cell in 2018 at Millhaven Establishment.
Bernardo instigated 9 incidents in jail
Information present Bernardo was the instigator in 9 incidents over the previous twenty years behind bars. He confronted 9 institutional expenses and was discovered responsible 4 instances in 1999 for disobeying the foundations.
The incidents documented embrace a minor disturbance that precipitated inmates to throw trays, making threats in 1998 and involvement in a confrontation between two offenders in 2006.
When Bernardo utilized for a jail switch final yr, his case administration group stated that “he has remained incident-free for almost all of his sentence, with the final famous considerations occurring 4 years in the past in December 2018, when he was belligerent with workers and refused to return to his cell,” the assessment committee report stated.
Psychologist concluded problematic behaviours persist
The outcomes of Bernardo’s rating on the “Extreme Sexual Sadism Scale” — a screening machine utilized by jail officers — are redacted from the assessment committee’s report.
The report does say a psychologist concluded that Bernardo participated in “offence-related programming however continues to exhibit offence-related problematic attitudes and behaviours … He continues to current with wants in essentially the most related domains.”
The report cites a collection of exams carried out in 2023 that concluded Bernardo has “a number of responsivity points” and warned enhancements remained “intermittent.”
The report stated Bernardo confirmed a low potential for reintegration exterior the jail system and should not totally settle for accountability for his actions. Different exams discovered he was engaged in his correctional plan and his motivation was rated as “medium.”
A 2014 spousal threat evaluation discovered Bernardo was recognized as having a “excessive likelihood of threat for violence in direction of a accomplice and a average threat of violence towards others.”
The important thing change that led to Bernardo being transferred to a medium-security jail occurred a yr in the past, the assessment committee discovered. On July 20, 2022, Bernardo “totally built-in” on the jail vary with a bigger group of offenders, the report stated.
The top of the Correctional Service of Canada, which runs the jail system, says the service adopted the foundations across the jail switch of Paul Bernardo. The commissioner of the company stated Bernardo met the standards for the switch. Nevertheless, a assessment committee stated extra might have been completed to inform his victims’ households.
He built-in with two teams of 28 offenders and 10 offenders, the report stated. That implies that, for the primary time in his incarceration, he went to the yard with everybody from his vary, slightly than alone.
The committee’s report stated that no safety considerations have been famous and when there have been assaults on the vary, Bernardo was not concerned.
Bernardo’s request for switch rejected final yr
Bernardo requested in 2022 to be transferred to the close by medium-security Bathtub Establishment in Ontario. That request was rejected.
Bernardo was instructed the jail wasn’t appropriate as a result of it didn’t have locking doorways, widespread washrooms have been all the time accessible to offenders and there have been a excessive variety of violent inmates, the assessment committee discovered.
Bernardo additionally was instructed he couldn’t be transferred to some other jail in Ontario due to how infamous his case is within the province.
He then set his sights on Quebec, placing in a request to be moved to La Macaza Establishment. The assessment committee’s report stated that jail was deemed “suitable” as a result of it had previously “safely” held high-profile offenders serving time for sexual offences.
Guards bought no warning of Bernardo’s switch
Victims’ households got a “heads up” the morning of Bernardo’s jail switch on Might 29. The switch was stored on a “have to know” foundation, the assessment committee’s report stated.
Tim Danson, counsel for the French and Mahaffy households, is looking for adjustments to the regulation that allowed serial killer Paul Bernardo to be transferred to a medium safety jail.
“There was a heightened should be vigilant” as a result of Bernardo’s case is so infamous, the assessment committee report stated.
To make sure the the “security and safety of the escort and the offender,” workers transporting Bernardo weren’t instructed the id of the offender till the morning of the switch, the report stated. There have been additionally no stops on the way in which to Quebec in the course of the 4-hour-plus drive.
Danger of escape the identical at medium-security jail
Bernardo’s jail switch “doesn’t present Bernardo with any elevated entry to the neighborhood,” the assessment committee’s report stated.
Similar to a maximum-security jail, La Macaza is surrounded by a excessive barbed wire fence and inmates’ actions are monitored by armed guards, the report stated. Kelly stated that inmates at La Macaza have the identical entry to guests, training and applications as inmates in most safety.
The meals there isn’t any higher both, Kelly stated. “The menu is identical whether or not you’re at most, medium or minimal” she stated.
Consultants say Bernardo might spend extra time exterior of his cell at La Macaza and obtain specialised programming for sexual offenders.
Victims’ rights might enhance after Bernardo’s switch
The assessment committee’s discovered there was nothing stopping the Correctional Service of Canada from sharing extra info with the victims’ households. It really helpful putting a working committee to enhance practices on partaking with victims and their family members.
The assessment committee concluded that it hopes the Correctional Service of Canada displays on “victims issues” together with “courtesy, compassion and respect.”‘
A brand new ministerial order launched Thursday can also be anticipated to enhance the probabilities of victims’ households being warned prematurely of a possible switch in order that they’ll replace their sufferer affect statements. It’s a transfer the federal ombudsman for victims of crime has been calling for because the workplace opened about 15 years in the past.
Learn the total report right here: