A man who kidnapped and killed a five-year-old girl in southern Alberta told a parole hearing Thursday that he was worried about being exposed as a pedophile and smothered the child in a state of panic.
Anthony Gallup, appearing by video from a minimum security prison in B.C., made his first request for freedom since he was convicted of first-degree murder for killing Jessica Koopmans in 2001.
A first-degree murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence and offenders can’t apply for full parole for 25 years.
The 66-year-old wanted unescorted temporary absences to attend a workshop in Kamloops, B.C., aimed at helping individuals suffering from childhood trauma.
The Parole Board of Canada denied the request.
It said Gallup isn’t ready for any additional freedoms and releasing him would be premature.
Jessica was taken from her Lethbridge home on May 4, 2001. A week later, her naked body was found under a pile of brush near the town of Fort Macleod.
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Harold Anthony (Tony) Gallup, who was 31 at the time, was arrested a week after that.
Gallup was a family friend of Jessica’s mother, who frequently played with her two daughters and dated her best friend.
During the murder trial, the Globe and Mail reported court heard Gallup had “nightmares” involving sex with young girls, feared he could harm someone and was seeking counselling not long before Jessica disappeared.
He didn’t testify at his trial.
Gallup told the parole board that he took the girl to buy her candy and became aroused. She started to cry.
“It was panic and shame because I didn’t want to be exposed. I didn’t want her to say that something had happened, when nothing had actually happened. I didn’t actually act on any kind of deviant impulse,” Gallup told the board.
He said he will carry the terrible crime with him forever.
“I wish like hell I could trade places with Jessica and be the one that is dead, but I can’t. I can’t go back,” Gallup said.
“I don’t have any explanations that would satisfy anybody. I am not the same person that I was 25 years ago.”
Jessica’s mother appeared at the hearing via video link and described Gallup as a master manipulator.
“Life in prison is 25 years,” Sylvia Bouw told the board. “(Jessica) does not get a second chance.
“The possibility of this man’s release reopens wounds that never truly healed and brings back the fear, the pain and the reality of what was taken from us.”
With files from Global News
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