Crown ignores RCMP deal with pedophile
Will seek dangerous offender status
Police offer not binding, prosecutor says
Aug. 11, 2006. 06:09 AM
NASREEN GULAMHUSEIN
STAFF REPORTER
To coax Peter Whitmore out of the abandoned farmhouse in Saskatchewan where he was found with two young boys, RCMP wrote a letter promising to recommend the convicted pedophile not be designated a dangerous offender.
Yesterday, the Crown announced it would effectively ignore the RCMP recommendation and will seek to have Whitmore classified as a dangerous offender if he's convicted of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a Saskatchewan boy and a Manitoba teenager.
That could mean Whitmore, 35, who has been convicted of a litany of offences involving children that date back more than a decade, will spend the rest of his life in jail.
"There is a reasonable likelihood that a judge would find him a dangerous offender and so we will go ahead with that application," said senior Crown prosecutor Anthony Gerein.
Outside court in Regina yesterday, Gerein pointed out that the RCMP lived up to their part of the deal by making the recommendation to the Crown.
But Gerein said a recommendation from the police is not binding on the prosecution.
The letter was penned during a 10-hour standoff with police outside a farmhouse in Kipling, Sask., to convince Whitmore to surrender peacefully.
The young boy from Saskatchewan and teenager from Manitoba, whose identities are protected by a publication ban, were released during the standoff and reunited with their families.
Whitmore has been in custody since surrendering on Aug. 1 after a two-day manhunt.
The letter, written and signed by RCMP Insp. Len Del Pino, also said police would not propose Whitmore serve a life sentence and that Whitmore had agreed to plead guilty to recent offences.
"If you notice, the only signature on the letter was from the RCMP," said Gerein. "There was no adoption of the agreement from the prosecution at any time."
Gerein added that, "I can't speak on behalf of the RCMP, but I suspect that is why the officer chose to use the word `recommend' in the letter. He knows that it's up to the prosecution to decide what to do."
Gerein also said officers involved in the case "are to be commended for the sterling service they gave the people of Saskatchewan and the wonderful end that they brought to this matter."
The RCMP have refused to comment on the letter.
Being designated a dangerous offender allows judges to impose indeterminate sentences on criminals.
Crown prosecutors are eligible to make an application for the dangerous offender designation once a person is convicted of a serious personal injury offence, such as rape or murder. They must get approval from the provincial attorney general, and then go through a number of steps, including a psychiatric assessment to ascertain whether the person might reoffend.
The indefinite sentence is reviewed after seven years of custody and every two years after that.
Some dangerous offenders do get parole and are released into the community, said Gerein. "The perception is that you are locked away and forgotten about and that is just not the case."
As of May 2005, there were 336 dangerous offenders in the system, including rapist and murderer Paul Bernardo.
Malcolm Green, mayor of one of the boys' hometowns, is setting up a letter-writing campaign to make legislation regarding dangerous offenders more strict.
"I wish this kind of thing would stop but I know it won't," said Green. "If you let this guy out he'll go and repeat tomorrow. He's not going to change."
Although the town is shaken up, Green did say "we still walk here at night without a worry but people will take a closer look at strangers now."
Daniel Brodsky, a lawyer who has indicated he intends to represent Whitmore, has said the RCMP letter brought about an end to the standoff and its contents should be honoured. He was unavailable yesterday.
A legal aid lawyer represented Whitmore in court yesterday and requested an adjournment until later this month. It is not clear whether Brodsky will represent Whitmore as the case progresses.
The case was adjourned to Aug. 24.
With files from Canadian Press
