Over a year after she was sentenced for murdering her parents and brother, the girl, who was 12 at the time of the killings, will have her progress examined by Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Scott Brooker. The judge has ordered a yearly review of the girl’s treatment.
She is serving her sentence at Alberta Hospital Edmonton, where she is undergoing extensive rehabilitation and treatment in a $100,000-a-year program.
The girl’s October sentence review was adjourned pending more information.
The girl, identified as J.R. in court records, is doing well in therapy, but has a
"failure to internalize," a court heard last fall.
The punchline of the article:
The girl, now 15, was described in court as "seriously disturbed." She was given the maximum sentence allowed under the Youth Criminal Justice Act — six years in custody followed by four years of supervision. She will be free at age 22.
So, if she's still a psycho and is "failing to internalize" her murders, do they still let her walk? "Youth Offender" absolutists drive me crazy. Is there never an exception? Shouldn't she be locked up forever?
When I was in grade eight a kid got murdered by another kid in my neighborhood. A few years later the killer was walking the streets, unrepentant. Everybody knew who he was. It didn't seem right. I have no way of confirming it, but I believe he commited a violent crime again. If so, it didn't take a genius to see that coming.
I agree there needs to be a difference between adult, and youth punishment. But let's not be black and white about it. There has to be exceptions for murder, and potential violent re-offenders.
