Heather Thomas’ mother says she has met with Conservative MP Frank Caputo after child killer Shane Ertmoed’s 60-day unescorted temporary prison leave to take cooking classes was delayed.
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The mother of Heather Thomas says she has met with Conservative MP Frank Caputo to push for changes to rules governing temporary absences after convicted child killer Shane Ertmoed was granted a 60-day unescorted leave from a Vancouver Island prison that was later delayed.
Ertmoed, who is serving a life sentence, received the 60-day unescorted temporary absence in late September to take cooking classes.
Thomas, now dead, was 10 when she disappeared on Oct. 1, 2000, after riding a bike outside her father’s townhouse complex in Cloverdale.
Her body was found three weeks later in Alouette Lake, and Ertmoed was convicted in 2002 of the sexual assault and killing of Thomas.
Thomas’ mother, Jody Aspin, said all she wants to do is protect other children, adding: “Heather wasn’t protected,” but “I want to make sure other children are.”
In the case, family lawyer Rebecca Darnell said: “There needs to be a situation where the onus is reversed and he has to justify his release into society and there has to be no risk of reoffending.”
Ertmoed was denied day parole last year because he was still considered a risk of serious harm to others.
Caputo, the Conservative MP for Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola, said he has raised the issue in the House of Commons, questioning how an offender like Ertmoed could be approved for an unescorted absence.
Caputo said while the Parole Board is independent, it also interprets the laws Parliament sets, saying: “So, if we want changes to how the Parole Board makes its decisions, we need to change the rules and we do that through legislation in parliament.”
Aspin said she will continue fighting “as long as necessary,” adding: “I am going to do whatever I can until the day I die and even then, I know my son will take over at some point,” and: “I won’t stop.”
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