‘Kimberly’s Law’ aims to thwart young killers, toughen young offender sentencing

The family of teenage murder victim Kimberly Proctor launched a countrywide petition on Wednesday to press for justice reforms which they call “Kimberly’s Law.”

Kimberly’s grandmother Linda Proctor and aunt Jo-Anne Landolt aim to gather 30,000 signatures in an effort to force politicians to make reforms to the youth justice system.

The petitions contain proposals that apply to provincial authorities as well as federal. They will go out to 10 provinces, three territories and the nation as a whole.

“Everybody’s been asking how can they can help. We need help getting petitions to people,” said Proctor.

Kimberly, an 18-year-old Langford woman, was raped, tortured and murdered by two teenage males three years ago this month.

Kruse Hendrik Wellwood, then 16, and Cameron Alexander Moffatt, then 17, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and were sentenced as adults to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 10 years.

Proctor’s relatives have made seven recommendations, which were vetted by their legal advisers.

At the top of the Proctor’s list is the need for something called a threat assessment protocol. It would identify young people who have committed serious misdeeds, such as cruelty to animals.

“If we found these kids with problem behaviours, we might be able to stop it from ever happening,” said Proctor.

She would also like the parents of criminals to be held liable for civil damages as a result of actions by their offspring.

Landolt said counselling should be mandatory for problem youth. “Too many parents say there’s nothing wrong with ‘John’ — and ‘John’ says he doesn’t need any treatment,” she said.

And Proctor believes 16-year-olds possess sufficient maturity to be subject to mandatory transfer to adult court.

But SFU criminal law professor David MacAlister calls the proposals “generally terrible and ill-thought out.”

In a detailed critique, he found fault with concepts such as “involuntary treatment” of troubled youth and making parents responsible for the misdeeds of young people.

“Might youth who want to get back at their parents engage in crimes so their parents have to pay financial compensation?” MacAlister said in an email.

While the Proctors object to Kimberly’s killers being eligible for parole in 10 years, MacAlister said eligibility dates are not release dates.

“Parole is often denied at these initial dates,” he said.

MacAlister said in other instances the petition’s authors are “labouring under a misbelief” about what actually happens in youth court.