The family who had befriended him received death threats and had to keep their children out of school until the uproar died down. Circles of Support staff, from left, Dan Haley, Eileen Henderson, Norma Lelless, Julie Bender, Ed Vandenberg. The Peterborough incident, repeated many times across Canada when a released sex offender has tried to rejoin a community, shows that public education is needed, say Circles organizers. Mr. Kirkegaard said. The community has lost its ability to reintegrate people back in, preferring to leave it up to professionals.
Stunning failures are evident with pedophiles.
The reality is that these people have a right to be here when they have done their time. Mr. Savage, who has volunteered for four circles over the past seven years, said that group support does not mean group cover-up. The volunteers provide a variety of supports, including late night check-ins by telephone, meeting for coffee or a meal, helping clients find a place to live and help with job searches. The program is not a cakewalk for the convicted pedophile, Eileen Henderson, Circles Toronto-based project manager said in an interview. They have to be willing to understand that there are victims, that they have damaged someone, and that it cannot be trivialized in any way.