Durham Region’s chief of police says allowing a convicted child killer to be released unescorted, even temporarily, into the community is a public safety concern, which he’ll be “formally” raising on behalf of the force with the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC).
In a statement provided to CP24, Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) said Chief Peter Moreira would be meeting directly with the federal government agency “to address public safety considerations associated with this matter.”
A media officer said DRPS will not be doing any media interviews on this issue at this time “as these discussions are ongoing.”
DRPS says public safety a ‘primary concern’
Const. Nicholas Gluckstein noted that while decisions related to what are known as Unescorted Temporary Absences are the responsibility of CSC, public safety remains the DRPS’s “primary concern.”
“When an individual is released into the community, (our) Offender Management Unit conducts a comprehensive risk assessment to determine whether the individual may pose a significant risk to community safety. This assessment considers a range of factors, including criminal history, the nature and severity of past offences, institutional behaviour, compliance with previous release conditions, the conditions imposed upon release, and any known indicators of risk,” he said.
Gluckstein went on to say that when an individual is assessed as posing a high risk to public safety, they will issue a public safety advisory “to inform and protect our community,” adding this is done in accordance with the requirements of the Community Safety and Policing Act.
The offender in question, Darren Scott Ray, is now 65 years old and is currently serving a life sentence for the torture, sexual assault, and murder of 14-year-old Darren Pepin in 1986.
His sentence was handed down in 1987.
On March 2, Ray, who is currently at a minimum-security facility, was given a 72-hour pass to visit a community-based residential facility in Oshawa.
That decision by the Parole Board of Canada prompted Durham Regional Police to issue a community safety alert and caused concern among some community members.
Ray is set to be granted two more passes for unescorted temporary absences from prison over the next 12 months.
Conditions Ray must abide by during the unescorted absences include avoiding all contact with children, abstaining from the use of drugs or alcohol, and avoiding any direct or indirect contact with the victim’s family.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has also spoken about Ray being given unescorted releases in the community.
With files from CP24’s Codi Wilson
