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Well, at least our children are safe for the next two weeks.
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Convicted pedophile Lucas Petrini was supposed to have a bail hearing Wednesday and many concerned parents in the west end feared he’d be set free. But his video appearance at the Toronto courthouse was adjourned until March 26 while he tries to retain a lawyer through Legal Aid.
And so Petrini, 34, remains locked up on his latest disturbing charges of trying to lure children in three frightening incidents between Feb. 13 and March 3. He faces 10 counts of fail to comply with his Long-Term Supervision Order (LTSO) and two of assault after he allegedly approached kids in the Annette St. and Pacific Ave. area and near Humberside Ave. and High Park, trying to get them to come with him.
The Keele Street Public School Advisory Council is one of several groups in the High Park and Junction neighbourhoods that has mobilized a letter campaign to politicians to express their outrage that Petrini could soon be freed on bail.
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“Over the past week, our community has been shaken by the attempted abductions in our neighbourhood. Parents lost sleep. Many stayed home from work to personally walk their children to and from school. Phones buzzed through the night with messages of concern, waking families up to one of a parent’s worst nightmares,” the council wrote.
“Petrini must not be released into our community — or any community — again,” they continued. “We need as much pressure on officials as possible to ensure he isn’t released on bail and our voices are heard.”
But, of course, it’s not up to politicians. That decision will rest with a justice of the peace.
Petrini was 18 when at knifepoint, he kidnapped a nine-year-old Brampton boy on his way to school and for a horrifying 7 1/2 hours, held him captive and repeatedly raped him. According to a 2018 parole decision: “You then subjected the child to repeated sexual assaults, including forced fellatio and anal intercourse.“
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He also wasn’t his first victim. “You also disclosed a number of previous sexual offences against children for which you have not been convicted of,” the parole board would later note.
After credit for his time in custody, Petrini was sentenced to eight years in prison for kidnapping, sexual assault with a weapon and uttering death threats. The judge also imposed a lifetime Sex Offender Information Registration Act order, and a 10-year Long Term Supervision Order to begin after his sentence ended on Nov. 15, 2018.
The conditions of his LTSO included staying away from children, the internet, alcohol and drugs and to attend counselling. But according to his latest parole document obtained by The Toronto Sun, Petrini has breached those terms over and over again.
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According to the parole document, in 2019, he was taken back into custody after he was found in possession of an iPhone with access to the internet and another phone that had a saved cartoon image “of a child being orally impaled by an object consistent with what Correctional Service Canada described as a large penis.” The parole document added in addition, he’d been found consuming drugs.
On April 28, 2020, he was also convicted of two breaches of the supervision order. On June 15, 2023, he was convicted again of breaching the order and returned to custody.
When Petrini moved to Kingston after his release in December 2018, the local police were so concerned that they issued a warning to the public. But there was no such alert when he moved into the Keele St. halfway house last November.
Were Toronto Police even informed?
Vulnerable kids were placed at risk with a sex offender who has a terrifying history of ignoring conditions that were meant to keep them safe.
His latest charges haven’t been proven in court. But if they are — it is high time the Crown applied to have Petrini declared a dangerous offender with an indeterminate sentence so our children are protected for good.
mmandel@postmedia.com
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