Aboriginal leader slams ex-judge's parole bid
Suzanne Fournier, The Province
Published: Wednesday, September 12, 2007

A Prince George aboriginal leader said it is "an atrocious betrayal" that a two-person parole tribunal could grant former judge David Ramsay full parole back to the city of his victims within six months.

"It would be so horrible and so atrocious to have Ramsay back in Prince George in the near future without the parole board even hearing from the victims, but it wouldn't surprise me," said Mary Teegee, director of the Carrier Sekani Child and Family Services agency in Prince George. "The way society has failed these young girls, it's been an atrocious betrayal, with the victims not even knowing he was up for parole and then being denied a voice. If he is sent back here, it will be a sad, sad day."

National Parole Board spokeswoman Janice Babineau confirmed that two members of the board in Moncton, N.B., are conducting a file review this week of Ramsay's request for day parole. Ramsay refused a public parole hearing even though some Prince George residents intended to travel to Dorchester, N.B., where he is incarcerated.

"He could go back to Prince George to a halfway house on day parole and they generally spend six months on day parole, so he could possibly be back in the community on full parole within six months," said Babineau.

"He could go back to B.C., yes," she said or be paroled to another area of Canada or be denied any form of parole.

"The bottom line is we have to follow our policies . . ."

Ramsay, who has served three years of a seven-year sentence imposed June 1, 2004, admitted at trial to procuring sexual services from impoverished, underage aboriginal girls, some of whom had appeared before him in court.

He was convicted of four counts: one of breach of trust, one of sexual assault causing bodily harm and two of procuring the sexual services of a child. His victims ranged in age from 12 to 17.

The offences occurred when Ramsay was a sitting provincial court judge between 1992 and 2001.

Babineau said Ramsay will have to be released by Jan. 31, 2009, after he serves two-thirds of his sentence.

sfournier@png.canwest.com