On the ninth anniversary of the murder of Langford’s Kimberly Proctor by two of her peers, BC Liberal Mental Health and Addictions Critic Jane Thornthwaite reintroduces the Safe Care Act, also known as Kimberly’s Law, to the Legislature.
“This important piece of legislation will help protect at-risk youth from imminent harm,” says Thornthwaite who first introduced the bill in 2018.
On March 18, 2010, Cameron Moffat, 17, and Kruse Wellwood, 16, lured Proctor to Wellwood’s family home where they raped, tortured and murdered the 18-year-old girl. They put her mutilated body in a duffle bag and dumped it near the Galloping Goose Trail.
The two were tried as adults and are serving life in prison with no possibility of parole for 10 years.
While Proctor’s family still grieves, they have worked hard over the last nine years to help prevent similar tragedies from happening, meeting several times with members of the provincial and federal governments since 2010, as detailed in Kimberly’s Law Facebook page.
RELATED: Proctor family continues to fight for change nine years after horrific Langford murder
If passed, the Safe Care Act will be used as a court-mandated action to protect children in worst-case scenarios involving self-harm, addictions, violent behaviour and sexual exploitation. It would permit courts to authorize the involuntary confinement of children and youth in a secure setting for a short period of time in order to stabilize their emotional and physical health while allowing time to assess their needs and develop a community plan.
“There is a possibility that Kimberly would be alive today if the Safe Care Act was in place. Cameron Moffat and Kruse Wellwood both spiralled out of control while their community, school, their peers watched. Nothing was done,” said Kimberly’s aunt Jo-Ann Landolt.
Landolt doesn’t believe that Moffat and Wellwood would have gone for necessary treatment or counselling voluntarily, something the Safe Care Act would address.
“We really hope that the government will pass this bill so other families won’t have to endure the pain we went through,” said Landolt, who, along with Kimberly’s grandmother Linda Proctor, have been tireless advocates for the legislation.
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