Debbie, there may be a thread that this fits into, and please feel free to move it.


News Local
Fund will aid families hit by crimes against children    

QMI Agency and Free Press staff

Sunday, December 30, 2012 8:45:37 EST PM
"This new grant will ease the financial pressure on parents struggling to cope with the death or disappearance of a child.” - MP Kellie Leitch. (QMI Agency file photo)





Parents victimized by the ultimate crimes — their kids murdered, or gone missing in acts of foul play — will be eligible for a new federal grant starting Jan. 1.

Sunday, the government announced the money — $350 a week in income support, for up to 35 weeks — will be available to help eligible parents who suffer loss of income taking time off work to cope with the death or disappearance of a child as a result of a probable crime.

The announcement was made by former Londoner Dr. Kellie Leitch, MP for Simcoe-Grey and parliamentary secretary to Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Diane Finley.

The announcement was made by former Londoner Dr. Kellie Leitch, MP for Simcoe-Grey and parliamentary secretary to Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Diane Finley.

“Our government is taking action to provide more support for victims of crime and their families,” Leitch, a paediatric surgeon, said in a statement. “This new grant will ease the financial pressure on parents struggling to cope with the death or disappearance of a child.”

The grant is expected to support an estimated 1,000 families a year.

Ottawa’s move comes in the wake of some scathing reports on how the justice system treats bereaved parents, including a 2007 review by Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin about the Ontario Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.

Among those whose cases Marin singled out was London trucker Aurelio Almeida, whose five-year-old daughter Naiomi was raped and murdered in 2001.

Left with a young son to raise, Almeida — who at the time was battling the board bureaucracy, couldn’t concentrate on his job and was forced to quit —

found the provincial agency set up to help him was a maze.

He applied for help to defray his daughter’s funeral costs and was, Marin said at the time, treated “as though he was trying to scam the board out of a few thousand dollars” because family members had pitched in to help.

Crime victims and their families were treated like “rats in a maze,” said Marin, who noted millions of dollars collected in a victim surcharge fund from fees levied on all provincial fines and federal offenders was sitting largely untouched, while victims were nickeled and dimed.

“The board greets victims of crime with bureaucratic indifference and suspicion,” the ombudsman said.

To receive money from the new federal fund, affected parents will need to have earned income of at least $6,500 in the previous calendar year or the previous 52 weeks and take leave from their employment, Leitch said.

Sharon Rosenfeldt, the president of Victims of Violence/Canadian Centre for Missing Children, said her organization “is very pleased with this grant which will benefit victims of crime.”

In addition, through the Helping Families in Need Act, the Canada Labour Code has been amended to allow for unpaid leave and to protect the jobs of parents whose child dies or disappears as a result of a crime.

MORE INFORMATION: Visit servicecanada.gc.ca/pmmc

 

Re: Robert Hall, pedophile
I'll post this on this thread until we figure out where to put Hall.
 Hall is a brazen, prolific sexual abuser who came across as a friendly young man. There are a few of us who wonder if he was capable of murder.  Here are some of the red flags that made me suspicious of this.

-he was violent in an attack on a young boy, as far back as 1965
-In 1971 his finacee suffered a nervous breakdown shortly before their wedding. They never married.
-His good friend and boarder from the 60's and 70's apparently committed suicide, after police questioned him about the recent trial victims
-He owned "cool" vehicles, including a Jag, VW van,T-bird, Isetta, Amphicar (also goes in water) as well as a truck and motorcycle. "Kid Magnets" possibly. Strangely, all ownership documents were destroyed in a fire, where they were stored.
-He took some of his victims camping

Members on this site seem to be very interested in the locations of abductions and the locations where the bodies are found. These are considered to be the killer's "comfort zone", meaning he knows the area well and feels comfortable disposing of bodies there without detection. The fact that Hall was a camper led me to expand my research on Robert Staplyton to also include Frankie Jensen (9), Scott Leishman (16) and Robert James Brown (11). All 4 boys were abducted in 1968 or 1969.  With the exception of RS, the other 3 were either picked up, or dumped at, locations that were close to campgrounds.

I've tried to make connections between Hall and these victims, as outlined below.

Robert Bruce Stapylton, age 11, London
Disappeared June 1969, from Piccadilly St. home (2 blocks from Adelaide St. N)
Body found in a woodlot on Sunningdale Rd., just W of Adelaide St. N.
Cause of death: undetermined
No evidence of sexual assault (decomposition)

-Hall and RS lived 2 blocks, then 4 blocks apart in 1969
-Bruce was an avid camper
-Hall had a woodworking shop in his garage
- Robert S's father owned a Home Hardware store on Adelaide St. N.
- The local lumber store was 4 blocks from RS's home, on Adelaide St. N.
-Hall's backyard faced a park/field where young neighbour boys played. This was 2 blocks from RS's home.

Stapylton could have known Hall from the neighbourhood, or from hanging out at his father's store.

Scott Leishman, age 16, Thorndale
Disappeared March 21,1968 from Thorndale
Body found May 15, 1968 in Port burwell harbour
Cause of death: undetermined
Sexual assault: unclear
Some clothing was disturbed.

Scott spent the day with friends (school holiday) in Thorndale.  He was last seen getting into a cream coloured, medium compact car.

Campground in Thorndale:  River View, 22164 Valleyview Rd. Apparently the main intersection in Thorndale is Valleyview Rd. and Thorndale Rd.

Saunder's Auto Parts, Thorndale:  Hall was a mechanic.

Campgrounds in Port Burwell:  Big Otter Marina and Campground, Port Burwell Provincial Park

Frankie Jensen, age 9, London
Disappeared Feb. 9, 1968 from London
Body found April 9, 1968 In Thames River, Thorndale
Fractured skull, sexually assaulted, partially dressed

Frankie disappeared on his way to school in west London.  His body was found, as far as I can tell, very close to the River View campground at the Thames.  Valleyview and Nissouri roads run parallel with the Thames River between them.  The campground would be closed in April, and the two roads would be familiar (safe/comfort zone) to a camper or fisherman.

Robert James Brown, age 12, Wilfrid, On
Disappeared Aug. 3, 1968 from Pefferlaw, On
Last seen walking from a youth camp to his home in Wilfrid
Body never found.

Pefferlaw is a resort community on the SE shores of Lake Simcoe (York region), with camping, fishing, boating and many beaches. York Regional Police received a tip from "Western Ontario" of a possible connection of Robert to missing children in London.


I assume that Robert Hall's DNA is being processed, so time will tell if he was involved in any abductions. 

(I have phoned River View Campgrounds and left a message, and I also e-mailed them to ask if the camp, or another one was open in 1968. I have no replies, as yet).


Modify Jan. 4/11
River View was, and is the only campground in Thorndale.
Frankie Jensen's body was discovered north of this camp, which precludes it as a point of entry in the Thames.

Modified: July 3, 2011
Additional info re Bruce Stapylton being an avid camper