“My heart’s broken and I just need help for my son”; Bitternose’s mother makes emotional appearance at delayed hearing

A dangerous offender hearing set to start in Banff today has been postponed.

Cory Lawrence Bitternose has been in and out of prison for the past twenty years for sexually assaulting women in Calgary, Regina, and most recently in Banff.

The hearing was scheduled to begin Tuesday morning, but was delayed after one of the Crown prosecutors had to receive emergency surgery following a medical emergency on Monday. Her co-council in the case did not wish to proceed alone due to the volume of information, number of witnesses, and overall complexity of the hearing. The Judge agreed to his application for adjournment and moved the hearing to next Monday in Calgary, at which time a new series of dates will be scheduled.

Despite the delay, it was still an emotional day in court as Bitternose’s mother, Ivy Kennedy, made an appearance and spoke with the media. In tears, she pleaded that her son be given some mercy.

“I know that the victims are suffering, and I just can’t apologize enough and my prayers are with them … I work with a women’s organization and I work with a lot of victims of crime, so I understand that and Cory has confessed, he is remorseful and I’m overwhelmed, for both the victim and my son. My heart’s broken and I just need help for my son. He doesn’t need a dangerous offender designation because he tries so hard.”

She also noted Cory had a very troubled childhood, including a history of sexual abuse.

Crown prosecutors are applying to have 40-year-old Bitternose kept behind bars indefinitely by declaring him a dangerous offender.

His most recent attack included kidnapping, beating and sexually assaulting two women in Banff in 2008. Bitternose was posing as a Good Samaritan in the popular resort town when the two women had begun a long bike ride home up a mountain after visiting with friends. Bitternose offered the women a ride, then drove them to the Tunnel Mountain trailhead parking lot where he attacked and assaulted both women. After one escaped, he took the other to Canmore where she was repeatedly sexually assaulted.

In 1990, Bitternose pleaded guilty to viciously beating a woman in a downtown Calgary washroom. Bitternose stomped and kicked her so brutally he left a shoe imprint on her face.

Despite his lengthy history and a lack of any treatment in custody, he was repeatedly released from custody.