WHEREAS municipalities are charged with the duty to maintain safe and viable communities; WHEREAS the protection of our children from pedophiles relies on the application of legislation providing for the effective treatment and necessary sentencing of those convicted; WHEREAS the recent alleged abductions of children by Peter Robert Joseph Whitmore, a repeat child molester who has, since 1993, been convicted five times on charges involving crimes against children, demonstrates again that existing legislation has not provided sufficient protection for our children from sexual molesters; and WHEREAS current federal law requires that a criminal face a possible sentence of more than 10 years before that criminal can be declared a dangerous offender, and does not recognize a pattern of repeated lesser offences as grounds for consideration of a declaration as a dangerous offender; therefore

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties urge the federal government to implement amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada that would provide for more effective treatment and stricter sentencing of convicted pedophiles, and would allow the courts to judge that pedophiles with a pattern of repeat offences are dangerous offenders.

The following information on the criminal history of Peter Robert Joseph Whitmore was included in a CanWest News Service article on Tuesday, August 01, 2006: – March 1993, North York, Ont. — Peter Robert Joseph Whitmore abducts an 11-year-old boy from a pool and sexually assaults him during a 24-hour confinement. Whitmore is later arrested in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. He is convicted of charges stemming from the incident and serves less than a year in jail. – August 1994, Guelph, Ont. — Shortly after being released from prison, Whitmore, posing as a professional babysitter, picks up an eight-year-old girl in Guelph and drives her to Toronto, where he sexually assaults her. – August 1994, Shelburne, N.S. — A Nova Scotian inn owner calls police after Whitmore checks in. He is arrested in connection with the assault on the Guelph girl. – April 1995, Toronto — Whitmore pleads guilty to two counts of sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching, one stemming from his assault on the Guelph girl, the other from a separate assault on a nine-year-old boy. He is sentenced to 56 months in prison. The court imposes a rare, lifetime prohibition against his being alone with children under the age of 14. – January 2000, Mexico — After being released from prison, Whitmore flees to Mexico, where he is arrested again. – October 2000, Toronto — After Whitmore is released from prison, angry neighbours run him out of the neighbourhood where he tried to settle. In an interview arranged by his then-lawyer, Whitmore tells the National Post he plans to be “celibate from children” in the future. – November 2000, Toronto — Whitmore is found in a downtown hotel with a 13-year-old boy, breaching conditions imposed by the court. He is sentenced to another year behind bars. – February 2002, Chilliwack, B.C. — Three months after being released from prison and already wanted for breaching probation by having contact with a five-year-old boy in Toronto, Whitmore is arrested in Chilliwack, B.C., with a “rape kit” that includes zip ties (plastic fasteners that can be used as handcuffs), duct tape, lubricant and latex gloves. He agrees to return to Ontario in exchange for having the B.C. charges dropped. – June 2002, Toronto — Whitmore is sentenced to three years in prison after admitting to breaching his probation by having contact with the five-year-old Toronto boy. He serves his full sentence. – June 2005, Chilliwack, B.C. — Whitmore is released into the custody of an aunt in Chilliwack. – July 31, 2006, Whitewood, Sask. — RCMP issue a Canada-wide warrant for Whitmore for the abduction of a 10-year-old boy. This history provides a glaring example of how our justice system has failed to protect our children. Only through more effective treatment and stricter sentencing of convicted pedophiles, and through allowing the courts to declare chronic pedophiles as dangerous offenders, will our communities and our children be better protected from these sexual molesters.

The AAMDC has no resolutions currently in effect with respect to this issue.

In the 2008 Budget, the Government of Canada allocated $30 million per year to the National Crime Prevention Strategy. The AAMDC will work with the Government of Alberta to urge the federal government to address the importance of safe communities through its National Crime Prevention Strategy and the Criminal Code.