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Pedophile prowled for children 20 years
By CP  7/24/07
REGINA -- For nearly 20 years, Peter Whitmore has been hunting children across Canada and forcing them to satisfy his sexual desires.
To say that he was a predator well-known to police when he embarked on his last expedition, to the Prairies last summer, would be an understatement. His victims numbered over a dozen. He'd been jailed repeatedly and, time after time, was assessed as a high risk to reoffend.
Sometimes he'd attack a child just days after being released. Invariably, prison psychologists characterized him as a manipulative liar, unwilling to admit that he'd ever harmed anyone.
The sordid history was laid out yesterday in Court of Queen's Bench as Whitmore was sentenced to life in prison for his latest crimes -- kidnapping and sexually assaulting a Manitoba teenager and a 10-year-old Saskatchewan boy.
Documents suggest his life of crime began in 1988, when Whitmore himself was only 18. The attacks began in Toronto in 1989, when he began luring boys with money or the pretence of a job or a delivery errand.
For his sex crimes against five boys, aged 11 to 13, he was sentenced to 16 months in addition to six months' time served, and three years probation.
ON THE PROWL AGAIN
He was released on July 29, 1994, after serving two-thirds of his sentence, with strict orders to avoid contact with children under 14.
Within nine days, he was on the prowl again, this time in Guelph, Ont., where he posed as a worker in child protective services and managed to trick a mother into turning over her eight-year-old girl. He took her to Toronto, where he forced her to perform sexual acts on him before sending her home in a taxi.
Another victim was a boy, 9, who lived next door to Whitmore in Keswick, Ont., and was talked into a sleepover.
Even his cellmate at Millhaven Institution, near Kingston, Ont., was disturbed by some of Whitmore's behaviour.
"I know he needs help," reported the inmate.
"He would stand six inches from TV and stare at kids. He would even touch the screen where the kid's private parts were."
Whitmore gets life
Court told of victims' hellish ordeal
REGINA -- It began with a friendship struck up among co-workers at a Winnipeg construction site.
It was July 21, 2006, and Peter Whitmore needed a place to stay. A workmate was won over easily by the lumbering, oafish man, and offered up space in his family's home.
His common-law wife wasn't such an easy sell. She was wary of the stranger, especially when he offered to take her 14-year-old son camping to "get him away from the bad influences."
In the coming days, Whitmore coaxed the co-worker and the teen to travel with him to Regina to buy a new vehicle. If they did, Whitmore said, they could have the old beat-up van he was driving.
About halfway there, in Brandon, Whitmore said a bag had been left behind in Winnipeg with $2,000 in it. The van wasn't working right either, and Whitmore convinced his co-worker to take the bus back to the Manitoba capital to get the money. Whitmore and the teen would have the van fixed in Brandon.
The co-worker returned home to find there was no money. In the meantime, Whitmore had taken off with the teen. In the days ahead, they would pick up an even younger Saskatchewan boy. The chase was on.
Whitmore, an "unrelenting" pedophile, pleaded guilty yesterday to abduction and sex assault charges and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance at parole for seven years. The plea was part of a deal the Crown brokered in exchange for not pursuing dangerous offender status.
Court heard all the details of Whitmore's latest crimes.
He wasted no time corrupting his first victim. They drove to Moose Mountain Provincial Park in southeastern Saskatchewan, where Whitmore showed the teen a video on a portable DVD player of men having sex with boys.
GAVE WAY TO FEAR
The teen resisted Whitmore's advances at first, but that resistance gave way to fear as his captor became angry, so the teen acquiesced.
Whitmore kept his victim compliant with threats that he had military weapons in the van. He told the teen he could make one phone call to people he knew and the youngster's family would be killed.
The sexual assaults continued -- "lots" was the only estimate the teen gave police.
"I don't trust anyone I don't know," the teen wrote in his statement to the court. "I just wish none of this ever happened ... Then I would still be me."
On July 23, Whitmore and the boy approached a house just outside a small Saskatchewan town trying unsucessfully to sell a DVD player to a woman for gas money.
In the days that followed, Whitmore hatched a plan to snatch her 10-year-old son. On July 30, Whitmore got the teen to lure the boy away from his home on a bike ride to a nearby "haunted house," which turned out to be another abandoned farm building. When the youngsters arrived, he pounced.
Whitmore ended up keeping the boy and the teen at the there for two hellish days.
By the second day, an Amber Alert had been issued for the younger boy. A neighbour noticed fresh tracks and called the RCMP.
The 10-year-old came out when officers showed up. Whitmore stayed inside with the teen, who was too scared to leave, and a 10-hour standoff ensued. On Aug. 1, police talked him out and into custody.
These are the Victim Impact Statements given by family members:
-The 10-year-old Saskatchewan victim (as told to victim services worker):
I don’t remember a lot about what happened. I don’t want to remember. I was scared and mad when he stole me  when he took me away from my family. I was scared. I did not feel safe. I did not know what was going on. I was scared that he would kill me. When he took me I was quiet and confused.  I was mad and afraid he was going to hurt me. I was unable to sleep when I was away. I was worried about dying.
My room at home looks much like the room I was kept in. This made me feel I was uncomfortable. I slept downstairs until I got the new futon in my room. My pet mice keep me company in my room. They make me feel more comfortable so I am sleeping in my room again.
I did not do as well at school this year. Most of the kids at school are good, but want to know what happened. Every time there is something in the media, the kids at school start to ask questions again and I do not feel that great. There is a bully at school that calls me names. My Mom is going to home-school me next year.
Sometimes what happened is on my mind. I am trying to forget what happened. I have a counsellor. She is helping me. I can talk to her. I wrote a story for her about what happened to me. It is three pages long.
I feel kinda safe now unless it storms. I had to take this really gross medicine. I am not sure what the medicine is for. Medicine is from a doctor in Regina. I was mad when he stole me. I was mad at (the 14-year-old Winnipeg victim) because he tricked me. I thought he was my friend, but he wasn’t.
We went on a bike ride to the neighbours and that’s when he took he me. I was not given much food, just crackers and water and dog food stuff one day. I just about threw up. My tummy felt upset, like there were frogs in my tummy. I felt pretty shaky while I was gone.
When I came home I felt kinda better because I wasn’t alone. I felt kinda safe with my family. I felt relieved because the police had got him. I did not have to look at him all the time.
I feel kinda good now. If I have to go to court it makes me feel good and bad. I want to see him sentenced for life. I feel nervous about going to court.
My family is different now. My Mom does not want me to go out by myself anymore. He threatened to take (his younger sister) if I tried to run away
I had marks on my leg. I told my sisters that I had fallen in a gopher hole. The truth is that I was chained to the bed. I did not feel good. I had to pee in a bucket. I heard sounds at night. There were mice in the walls. I like mice so I shared my food with the mice.
 The 14-year-old Winnipeg victim:
In the past year I’ve been feeling afraid and always looking over my shoulder. I don’t trust anyone I don’t know. And I don’t like going outside alone. I’m always home or at my friend’s.
The past year has been really hard. When I first got back I couldn’t sleep, I was having nightmares. And I would cry inside every time I thought about it or I would wait till there was no one around.
Ever since I’ve been back I sleep in the living room. I don’t know why but I feel really safe in the living room. Anytime I leave this city I feel like I’m going there again. I wish none of this ever happened then I would still be me.
 Mother of the Saskatchewan victim:
There are also issues at school with the kids picking on our children because of what happened. There is one particular bully who calls (her son) “faggot†to his face all the time. We are withdrawing our children from school this coming year and will be home-schooling. Our family needs more time to heal without all the negative impact from school.
We had taken (her son) off Ritalin in the spring before the abduction. We had to put him back on it at school so that he could settle down in school. We had to put him on sleeping pills for a while at night because he was afraid to go to sleep at night. (Her son) would struggle to get out of bed in the morning because sleep was a safe place. He had nightmares for quite a while and still wakes several times each night. We had to take his bed out of his room because he was afraid to sleep on a bed and it brought back too many memories. We had to put a futon couch in his bedroom so that he was able to get some rest.
(Her son) doesn’t like to ride his bike anymore and has only left the yard once on his bike in the last year. He is easily scared when he encounters confrontations of any kind, i.e. fighting with his sisters, or violence on TV.
(Her son) was tested for AIDS and other communicable diseases. This was very stressful for us, knowing that our little boy may have been infected with a disease like AIDS. The waiting was unbearable and we waited for test results from Peter Whitmore and (the Winnipeg victim).
We have been a family in crisis. So much has happened and we need to just put it to rest. We don’t understand the criminal justice system and have been very frustrated with the delays. Neither (her husband) or I have heard the whole story yet of (their son’s) abduction. He has just finished it with his counsellor, but I do not know the details. I don’t want to know, but I have to know.
I feel that we need to get past the trial stage so that we can deal with it one more time and then put it to rest. We need to heal and carry on with our lives. I don’t know what long term effects this will have on (her son). Hopefully with continued counselling he will have a bright future, grow up to be a loving husband and father. I pray this makes him a stronger person.
 Mother of the Winnipeg victim:
Not knowing if I would ever see my son again, or if I did would he still be alive was unbearable. Eating and sleeping did not exist during the days my son was missing. All I did was cry, pace the floor and always have the phone close to me.
My son has been terrified to sleep by himself for months after the incident and still continues to sleep in the living room. I would often sit and watch my son sleep to help him feel secure, and sometimes I would hear him whispering and stirring.
I have experienced nightmares that have kept me awake at night. In the last year I have also experienced depression and panic attacks.
My son has had emotional breakdowns where he would cry and say things like “I’m worthless, my life sucks.† All I could do was hold him and tell him he was not worthless. Since this has happened there is not a night that goes by that I don’t check on him at least twice through the night.
My son will never be the same. Maybe he will learn to cope and find a place to carry it within himself through his therapy, but he will carry the memories every single day of his life.
My son did not deserve for these horrible things to happen to him, but as horrible as it is all we can do is stick together as a family and pray that he will come through this and be able to live a normal life.
 Father of the Saskatchewan victim:
My wife phoned me at work and said (their son) is missing and that she found the bikes in (a neighbour’s) car garage, that (their son) didn’t come home for lunch. She said that Rob Summer (the alias used by Peter Whitmore) and (the Winnipeg victim) have him. Life took a sharp and painful turn.
Who is this guy? The search is on. Police and more police. No (son). Time stops. (His son) is gone. Numb with pain. Who is this person? Police bring a picture. That’s him, Rob Summer. Who is he? We can’t tell you at this time.
On Canada AM  Peter Whitmore is a pedophile. God, if (his son) has to go please take him quick.
Morning comes. Good news, he doesn’t kill his victims, just sexually assaults them. Sick with fear and a building rage for this could happen to us. Police explain the Amber Alert  child in harm’s way. Police and media know Whitmore well. So mind-numbing and hard to understand. Our family members so far away, a state of shock and bewilderment and major stress. Try to understand.
My wife blames herself for how Whitmore did this. Truly not her fault, just a cunning Whitmore I say to her. The rest of our lives to live with. We are strong but are we strong enough? For this we have to hope.
Prayers are answered with (his son) being found. He is our (son). But not the (son) we had. The battered body and the shattered look. A whole new life begins. AIDS cocktails, hepatitis drugs, and all the sexually transmitted disease products for our 10 year old boy. His innocence gone.
 Stepfather of the Winnipeg victim:
Ever since this happened to my family things haven’t been the same. Emotional feelings all over the house. I feel that my wife hates me, somewhat. I cant talk to my wife on what she is feeling. I feel angry, mad, upset. Also feel that I let my family down as a father when this happened to (his stepson).
I was looking day and night, not sleeping, not eating, not stopping. When I came back from looking I couldn’t look at my wife in the face. She was really mad. I don’t feel loved sometimes from my family. I don’t get respect sometimes, feelings are crazy at the house. I can’t sleep.
Sometimes it feels like it happened just yesterday. I cry when people from my family are around. I think of it everyday day and night. When I wake up until I go to bed. I feel lost, my heart hurts.
I feel like I did something wrong inside of me. My life changed on that day. Feelings are so hard. I lost my habits going out to work. I don’t have the feel for it right now. It’s hard trying going back to work.
I lost trusting everybody that I don’t know. I’ve been feeling like this for about one year now. I cry inside thinking that it is my fault. Where did I go wrong? Why is this happening to me? It feels that I come to the end of the world.
A year’s gone by and I still feel the same on that day when (his stepson) was gone. My marriage isn’t the same, it’s up and down. July is a good plus bad month for us. But more bad, hurting feelings. I feel scared, sad, lost, down, upset, angry my family also has to go through each day that goes by.
People know who I am all over Winnipeg. They ask how (his stepson) is. I say OK. I feel like crying. I feel that I let down everybody. Right now I’m feeling distressed, hopeless, worthless, and lost. I feel mad, also, too, I feel sick inside myself while I writing this letter.
Just like it happened yesterday. I wish God would take this pain away from our hearts and souls. If there’s a God, I want to send him an SOS. Call.
 One sister of the Saskatchewan victim:
I see a counsellor weekly. (Her brother) does not talk about it at all. I found out he was chained to a bed post. I saw some marks on his wrist and ankles.
I think Whitmore is really mean.
As a family we didn’t go anywhere. We got family to run to do errands. When (her brother) went missing my sister was watching us and she forgot something and had to leave. I thought Whitmore might come back so I was scared. I am still scared sometimes to stay home alone.
I just want to get this over with, because it keeps on bringing back the memories. I want to be in the courtroom when Whitmore is sentenced because I want to see what happens when a guy does something like that.
 Another sister of the Saskatchewan victim:
I really didn’t like Peter Whitmore when I first saw him. He looked mean. He came and asked for eggs and when we didn’t have any he got disappointed and that made me scared. I stayed in the house because I was scared while (her brother) showed them the pigs. (Her brother) would be friends with everyone he knew. I found out after he got home that Peter Whitmore told (her brother) that if he didn’t help him he would get me. I felt very very scared and I wanted to stay near everyone.
There is a bully at school and he beats on my brother because of what happened. It makes me feel mad and angry when he does that to him. My mom is going to home-school us in the fall of 07. My friend is home-schooled.
This tragic event has made our family closer together. I feel scared when me and my brother and sister are home alone and I like it when my Mom comes and picks us up to go to her work. I won’t answer the door if I don’t know the person and I know how to phone my sister and Mom and Dad.
I see a counsellor weekly to help me with what happened. I felt left out when all the attention and the presents and cards were for (her brother). I felt that everyone forgot about me and my sister. So at the end of the month we are having a coming home party for (her brother).