The family of a murdered 8-year-old Ontario girl says they were blindsided again this week when they learned that one of her killers had been moved to a medium-security prison.
Michael Rafferty, sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for abducting, raping, torturing and killing Victoria (Tori) Stafford in 2009, was transferred from a maximum-security facility in Port-Cartier, Que., more than 900 kilometres south to a medium-security institution in La Macaza nearly nine months ago, according to documents obtained by CTV News.
“It feels like repeated slaps in the face by not just Correctional Service Canada but our government as well,” said Tori’s father Rodney Stafford in an interview with CTV News on Monday.
Earlier in the day, Stafford wrote an emotional post in a closed Facebook group: “This means that ALL THIS TIME over the last three months, CORRECTIONS SERVICE CANADA AND OUR CANADIAN GOVERNMENT have been hiding the fact that NOT ONE, BUT BOTH people responsible for stealing the life of Victoria have been working their way to luxury,” he wrote.
The information comes just weeks after the family and their supporters protested the transfer of Tori’s other killer, Terri-Lynne McClintic, to an Indigenous healing lodge. After widespread outrage, McClintic was transferred out of the lodge and to a medium-security facility in November. Stafford said that incident made him curious about Rafferty, who he finally learned this week was transferred in March.
“How is it (that) the two worst criminals in Canada are slowly being worked down through the system? These are people that took my daughter’s life heinously,” he told CP24 on Monday. “My daughter’s life meant everything to me.”
Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) defended the transfer in a statement Monday.
“We are always striving to ensure that victims of crime have an effective voice in the federal correctional and justice system,” a spokesperson said. “We understand that there may be times when case management decisions are not in line with victim viewpoints. We must remember that a large percentage of offenders will be released into the community and the offender management decisions are always made in the interest of public safety using evidence based approaches and professional experience.”
According to a letter CSC sent to Stafford, the agency may not have informed him about updates on McClintic and Rafferty because of “lost contact.”
However, Stafford said in a Facebook post that he attended a meeting with CSC Commissioner Anne Kelly during which she was asked directly about Rafferty, and whether there was any information about his file that Stafford was not aware of, and she did not mention the transfer.
In the House of Commons Monday, Conservative House Leader Candice Bergen directed concerns about the killers’ transfers to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.
“I will examine the facts of this case to ensure that all the proper rules and procedures have been followed and that Canadians are safe,” Goodale responded.
In his Facebook post, Stafford continued with a plea to “Canadians everywhere” to help: “Our children and lost loved ones deserve justice and security with in our country. I am so ashamed to be Canadian right now,” he wrote.
