First Nations furious over killer
Child killer Terri-Lynne McClintic isn’t welcome at the healing lodge that sits on Nekaneet First Nation land, band members say.
McClintic’s transfer from a medium-security prison in Ontario to the Okimaw Ochi Healing Lodge in Saskatchewan has triggered national outrage.
And local band members are furious as well that they were not consulted and only recently learned the child killer was nearby.
There are no fences at the healing lodge and over the years, there have been a number of escapes.
“When you have cases like this that are this horrendous it is a safety concern for everybody because we have children in our community and I know that there are some mothers out there in our community that are absolutely concerned for their children,” band member Cherish Francis told CKOM News Talk Radio.
The Woodstock murderer — who may not even be Indigenous — was convicted in the brutal first-degree kidnapping and sex slaying of Tori Stafford in 2009.
Tori was just eight years old. McClintic was sentenced to life with no parole for 25 years.
But even after a jailhouse assault in 2016, McClintic got the green light after just eight years to be sent to a healing lodge last December.
Francis — who is a spokeswoman for the band — added that members are furious they weren’t consulted.
She also said she was worried that the Ontario child killer could derail the work the healing lodges do.
The true purpose is to reduce the high incarceration rate of Indigenous people, she said.