Peter Whitmore has a long string of convictions for sexual offences involving children. (RCMP/Canadian Press)
Posted on 08/03/2006 3:15:03 AM PDT by Clive
BROADVIEW, Sask. (CP) - A day after his 10-year-old son escaped a convicted pedophile by fleeing from an abandoned farmhouse, an emotional Lyle Miller assured people Wednesday that his son "is a very strong little boy and he will get better."
"Zach is doing as well as can be expected," said Miller, fighting back tears as he spoke to reporters outside an RCMP detachment in rural Saskatchewan. He could not continue talking about the ordeal and rushed away, comforted by his brother, Weldon.
Zachary Miller had been missing for two days and was the subject of an Amber Alert when he was found Tuesday afternoon running from the farmhouse just south of his hometown of Whitewood, 30 kilometres east of Broadview.
Amber Alerts are broadcast through the news media and placed on electronic highway signs when police believe a child has been abducted and is in immediate danger.
Hours after Zachary was rescued, his alleged abductor, Peter Whitmore, and 14-year-old Jordan Bruyere were taken without incident by police following a lengthy standoff at a windowless shack on the property.
Police had also been searching for Jordan, who had disappeared from Brandon, Man., on July 22 and was believed to be with Whitmore.
Police said Wednesday that Jordan was all right but may be questioned further before he returns home.
In Winnipeg, Jordan's grandmother, Caroline Bruyere, said the wait during the standoff was agony but the result was "one of sheer delight, elation."
She said she wants to know why an Amber Alert wasn't issued for Jordan. Winnipeg police have said that since the teen went with Whitmore with the family's blessing, his disappearance didn't meet the criteria for such an alert. They also say they did not initially realize that Jordan was with a pedophile and they add it would have been confusing to issue a second Amber Alert.
Whitmore, who has a criminal record stretching back more than a decade for abusing children, was to appear in court Thursday.
As of Wednesday afternoon, police had only charged him with abducting Zachary, but they said in a release that more charges might be laid.
In Whitewood, Mayor Malcolm Green said residents shed tears of joy after hearing the children were OK, but admitted some innocence had been lost.
"I think it has taken something out of us a bit, right now, thinking that we are as vulnerable as anyone else."
There was also anger that someone with a long history of hurting children could be roaming free.
"He shouldn't have been out in the first place," Kevin White said from his car dealership office.
"It started back in '93 and it's just continued and continued and continued."
Rosalind Prober, president of Beyond Borders, an advocacy group fighting child exploitation, said Whitmore should have been declared a dangerous offender long ago - a designation that could keep him jailed indefinitely.
Whitmore's criminal record began with a 1993 conviction for abduction and sexual offences involving four young boys in Toronto that included molesting a boy at a swimming pool.
He did 16 months in jail, was released, then abducted an eight-year-old girl and forced her to perform oral sex on him. He spent more than six years jail and was then released again.
He fled to Mexico and cultivated relationships with children before he was extradited back to Canada, jailed and released yet again.
He was then found in a Toronto hotel with a 13-year-old. He was jailed again, this time in B.C., then released only to be found hanging around his apartment with pre-pubescent boys and a so-called "rape kit" that included plastic ties and lubricant.
National Parole Board documents say Whitmore, 35, believes his victims were "willing participants"' and has refused to deal with his attraction to young boys.
Jailed again for the B.C. violations, he was released in 2005. He stayed in Chilliwack but moved to Morinville, near Edmonton, earlier this year. Police had kept tabs on him through special court orders but they were not renewed in June and Whitmore dropped out of sight.
Neither police nor Zachary's family will discuss what happened to the boy while he was abducted.
There are also questions surrounding the 10 days that Jordan spent with Whitmore, because Jordan's family members say they were tricked into letting the boy go with the man, who had assumed another name.
Whitmore had recently started working in construction alongside Jordan's stepfather. The family says that on July 22, Jordan, his stepdad and Whitmore were in Brandon en route to buying a pickup truck when Whitmore asked the stepdad to take a bus back to Winnipeg to retrieve money.
Whitmore was supposed to return Jordan to Winnipeg the next day, they said, but the two disappeared.
Last week, Whitewood residents said the pair were spotted around town, sleeping in Whitmore's minivan and trying to get a tire fixed.
Police said the two met Zachary's family. On Sunday, Zachary disappeared after going bike riding with Jordan, prompting the massive manhunt.
Posters of the missing boys were displayed across the region - at hotels in Regina, at a gas station in Virden, Man., and at many other businesses.
Tuesday afternoon, area resident Pat Beaujot, a resident in Kipling, south of Whitewood, came upon a minivan in an abandoned farmyard that matched the description of Whitmore's veh - icle.
He called police and they arrived to find Zachary running for safety.
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(CP) - Here's a chronology of major events in the disappearance of 10-year-old Zachary Miller and 14-year-old Jordan Bruyere, as well as the previous convictions of pedophile Peter Whitmore:
1993: Peter Whitmore is convicted of abduction and five sexual offences involving four young boys in Toronto. He is sentenced to a year and four months in custody.
1995: Whitmore, who posed as a professional babysitter, is sentenced to five years in jail for sexual offences including the abduction and confinement of an eight-year-old girl from Guelph, Ont., and sexual interference with a nine-year-old boy from outside Toronto. He is banned from being close to children under age 14 for the rest of his life.
2000: Less than a month after his release, Whitmore is found in a downtown Toronto motel with a 13-year-old boy. He was sentenced to one year in jail for breaching a court order.
2002: A Toronto judge sentences Whitmore to three years in jail for probation violations because he fled to British Columbia after being found in the company of a five-year-old boy.
March 2004: A National Parole Board report notes clinicians believe Whitmore has a "100 per cent probability of recidivism."
June 16, 2005: Whitmore is released after serving his entire three-year sentence and takes up residence in Chilliwack, B.C.
June 2, 2006: RCMP issue a news release saying Whitmore will be visiting the area of Morinville, Alta., for a few days.
June 15, 2006: After returning to B.C. for a brief time, Whitmore comes back to Morinville. He willingly tells police he's back. RCMP set a court date so Whitmore can legally extend his stay, but he never shows up.
July 22, 2006: Whitmore resurfaces in Winnipeg, where, according to Jordan Bruyere's family, he befriends the 14-year-old boy and takes him to Brandon to buy a truck. They don't return, and Jordan's parents file a missing person's report.
July 23, 2006: Whitmore and Jordan arrive at a farm near Whitewood, Sask., and ask residents if they want to buy a DVD player in exchange for gas money. The residents decline.
July 27, 2006: Whitmore and Jordan are spotted sleeping in Whitmore's van, which is sitting in the parking lot of the local Chrysler car dealership. Owner Kevin White says Whitmore claimed Jordan was his son and said he had a wife in a nearby Saskatchewan community. White says Whitmore haggled over the cost to repair a blown tire, and Jordan didn't say a word.
July 29, 2006: Whitmore and Jordan arrive at the home of 10-year-old Zachary Miller. Lyle Miller takes Whitmore to get another flat tire repaired while Jordan and Zachary play together.
July 30, 2006: Zachary and Jordan go for a bike ride together while Miller takes Whitmore to look for job prospects. When the children don't return, Zachary's parents call RCMP, who issue an Amber Alert.
July 31, 2006: A Canada-wide warrant is issued for Whitmore, who is also charged with the abduction of Zachary.
Aug. 1, 2006: A vehicle matching the description of the one Whitmore was driving is spotted near Kipling, Sask., by a local farmer. When RCMP arrive, Zachary runs out of some brush on the property. Whitmore surrenders after a 10-hour standoff with police, and Jordan is taken into the protection of officers.
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If something like that ever happend to my kid, I would definately end up freeping from Prison.
On the bright side?
You would most likely be hailed as a hero, if I'm reading your innuendo properly. ;)
Time for parents to start whacking these people.
This perp needs akillin... : ) <<< me
and the "justice" system that allowed him to remain free needs to be fired and rebuilt.
Please send me a FReepmail to get on or off this Canada ping list.
Thank God this boy was rescued.
No way. In Canada, paedophiles enjoy special interest group status at the expense of the safety of our children.
What I want to know is why Jordan's parents allowed him to go off with a stranger, pedophile or not?
Homosexual Agenda Ping.
At least the boys are rescued; although they are no doubt scarred for life, especially the teenager who may have been an accomplice of some sort. The government is the real accomplice, for not executing child molesters (sorry for the caps) AFTER THE FIRST OFFENSE. There should never, ever be a second offense commited by a child molester. It is a crime against humanity for a child molester to continue to breathe air.
This is a disgusting example of misplaced mercy. Showing mercy towards the cruel means cruelty to the innocent. Sickening.
Ping me, DBeers, scripter or wagglebee if you want on/off this pinglist.
Not if I was on the jury.
There's your argument for the death penalty. The recidivism rate alone is also. But the ACLU will fight to the death for this scum... not for a Marine or anyone who needs it for moral purposes.
On many occasions I've told my daughter that if anyone ever kidnapped and abused her that I WILL KILL THEM. This isn't hyperbole, and no questions will be asked--THEY WILL DIE.
God Bless this child as he has been forever changed due to this evil HOMOSEXUAL pedophile criminal!
And the justice system that repeatedly let this monster go will probably slap him on the wrist and he'll be out trolling in another couple of years. Does he have to kill someone before they throw away the key????
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