Convicted killer Karla Homolka spent time in Montreal elementary school

CTV National News: Homolka at Que. school Many parents are angry after learning convicted killer Karla Homolka spent time at a Quebec school. Vanessa Lee reports.

Convicted killer Karla Homolka has spent time in a classroom with students at the Montreal private school where her young children attend classes, CTV News has learned.

Greaves Adventist Academy, a Seventh-Day Adventist private school in the Notre-Dame-de-Grace area of Montreal, confirmed that, on one occasion, Homolka was asked by a teacher to come into a classroom to show the students something related to knitting. School officials stressed that she was never alone with children. Homolka also accompanied students on a field trip that included adult supervisors.

On another occasion, she brought in a dog for a show-and-tell class.

Homolka served 12 years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter for her role in the murders of Ontario schoolgirls Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy. Homolka was released in 2005. Her then-husband Paul Bernardo, who was also convicted in the murders, remains in prison.

School administrators say Homolka is not a regular volunteer there and did not require a criminal background check for her classroom visits.

On Wednesday morning, CTV News cameras captured Homolka dropping off her children at school. She did not speak with any reporters.

Tim Danson, the lawyer representing the families of French and Mahaffy told CTV News Channel on Tuesday that his clients struggle to cope with news of their daughters’ killers.

“As Doug French says, it’s like getting a kick in the gut, when you realize she has all of these freedoms and she participated with Paul Bernardo in the brutal murder of their daughter,” Danson said, adding it’s “tough to swallow.”

Danson said Homolka is making headlines again as the Mahaffy and French families try to prepare for a possible day-parole hearing for Bernardo, which could take place later this year.

“We’re taking nothing for granted, so here I am working with the families, preparing victim impact statements as well as other issues that we need to deal with,” he said.