A review into the transfer of a woman, who was convicted in the brutal death of Victoria “Tori” Stafford, from a prison to a healing lodge has been requested by Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.
Terri-Lynne McClintic, 28, had been serving a life sentence at Grand Valley Institution for women in Kitchener since she pleaded guilty in 2010 to first-degree murder for her part in the young girl’s death.
Victoria Stafford was lured from her school in Woodstock, Ont. in 2009 and driven to a field where she was sexually assaulted and murdered. She was eight years old at the time.
In 2012, Michael Rafferty, McClintic’s former boyfriend, was convicted of kidnapping, sexual assault causing bodily harm and first-degree murder in the case. He is serving a life sentence as well.
On Tuesday, the father of Victoria Stafford, Rodney Stafford, told CTV News Kitchener that McClintic was transferred from the Kitchener prison to Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge in Saskatewan last December.
The rural facility focuses on healing incarcerated Aboriginal women, according to the Correctional Service of Canada.
The chief of Nekaneet First Nation, which is home to the healing lodge, said the community was “surprised” to learn that McClintic had been transferred to the minimum/medium correctional facility.
“At one time, Nekaneet Elders sat on the interview process and had influence on inmate intake, but the funding was cut approximately six years ago, and we no longer have input on who is transferred to the healing lodge from other federal correctional institutions,” Alvin Francis said in a news release issued on Wednesday.
“We have no say on inmate selection, but I believe if our elders were still apart of the process maybe McClintic wouldn’t be at the healing lodge. It’s solely at the discretion of Correctional Service of Canada to decide who is allowed to be transferred to the all-women’s correctional facility.”
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Goodale said he is asking the commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada to review the transfer and “ensure that the law and proper procedure have been followed.”
“All Canadians share the grief and pain of the family of Tori Stafford, who was the victim of a horrible, vicious crime that repulsed the whole country,” he said. “I note that back in 2013, my predecessor in this job observed ‘I do not control the security classification of individual prisoners. That is in fact the law.’ That having been said I have earlier today asked the commission to undertake a full review of the facts of this case to ensure that the law and all of the long standing policies of Correctional Service Canada have been properly applied.”
“I want to confirm that Correctional Service Canada Okimaw Ohci correctional facility has both minimum and medium security capacity and this particular offender, McClintic, was classified as medium security back in 2014, which is an important fact and an important date.”
In the House of Commons, Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to have the decision reversed saying that McClintic was guilty of “horrific crimes.”
“I will tell you one thing I know about this facility: it is not the right place for McClintic,” Scheer said. “She deserves to be behind bars… this is completely inappropriate.”
Trudeau responded by noting that McClintic’s security status has not changed since 2014 while reiterating that a review has been requested.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he spoke to Rodney Stafford regarding the transfer in a tweet written on Wednesday.
“I told him that I will do everything in my power to encourage Minister Ralph Goodale to have the woman who murdered his daughter brought back to jail, where she deserves to be for the rest of her life,” the tweet said in part.
Rodney Stafford previously said an inmate situated in a maximum security facility should not be granted lesser security unless they’ve met “all the criteria down the road that they’ve had to follow.”
Back in 2012, McClintic pleaded guilty to an assault causing bodily harm charge after another inmate was injured in an “unprovoked attack”, according to the Crown.
“She’s having a better life than the majority of people living out on the streets right now,” Rodney Stafford said. “It’s just not right.”
Rodney Stafford said he plans to protest this matter in Ottawa on Nov. 2.
CP24.com reached out to the Correctional Service of Canada for comment on the transfer on Tuesday, but a spokesperson said specific cases could not be discussed noting privacy concerns.
With files from The Canadian Press
