sexual abuse

Pardoned sex offenders evade record checks due to tighter privacy – The Globe and Mail

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Pardoned sex offenders evade record checks due to tighter privacy – The Globe and Mail.

This article suggests that the government has tightened the privacy act to such an extent that only the person involved can give permission for the record to be released. So it should work like this: Mr. X wants to work as a hockey coach in September. He applies for his police check in August, giving permission to release the contents of any record found. But when the records are searched, he has no record, because that 2 years for child sexual abuse has been pardoned and that record is not released, at least not without his permission. So it would seem that there is no protection. Clearly if the RCMP are just following the directives, then the legislation has to be looked at again.

Deep in this article is a reference to a Real Time Identification Program of automated finger-printing that would decrease the current 120-day  waiting period. According to the article the RCMP is working on a Real Time Identification Program.

The website for the RCMP is clear that this system all ready exists and is in use daily by police services for their routine work. The system requires that the fingerprints being checked are in electronic format.

In order to get a police background check,for a civilian, a full set of fingerprints must be provided. If these can be done electronically at the local police station, the checking time is dramatically reduced. Reduced, that is,  until there is a hit on a criminal record. If a criminal record is found, checking can extend over 120 days.

It seems to me, that if an individual wishes to have a police background check done, the first step should be to review the steps of the process on the RCMP website. The directions are clear. Making sure that the fingerprints are sent electronically should reduce the wait time.

Pardon for Sex Abuser

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Ex-coach Graham James pardoned for sex abuse that rocked NHL – The Globe and Mail.

This is a shocking story. In my 33 year career as a pediatrician I have talked with many children who suffered sexual abuse. All of the children I have seen were abused by someone they trusted or who was in a position of power over them –  a parent, a step-parent, a coach.

When an adult suffers an horrific event, he or she may suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, seek treatment and eventually go on, the event fading further into memory. With children, it is different. With each stage of development, the trauma can surface again – as the child becomes more able to understand what has happened, and as psychosexual development reaches anther stage.

I recall one boy whom I saw first when he was seven, sitting in an emergency room cubicle, with a frozen attempt at a smile on his face. That boy suffered throughout his childhood from a father who continued to stalk him. When he was 16 the boy laid a charge and the father was convicted. Imagine if he was now pardoned, because pedophilia is not as serious a crime as murder. The victim would be traumatized yet again.

This is what the parole board has done, in allowing the abuser of all those young boys to be pardoned. It has denied the importance of their suffering.