Montreal suburb shocked Karla Homolka living in its midst

MONTREAL • The principal of a school in the Montreal suburb of Châteauguay assured parents Tuesday that their children are safe after they learned Karla Homolka is living in the community and her children are enrolled in the elementary school.

Joanne Daviau said in the letter Tuesday she couldn’t comment further due to privacy laws, adding all children have an obligation to be in school and a right to privacy.

But she assures that adults volunteering are subject to a criminal-background check.

Daviau’s letter to parents was released by the New Frontiers School Board after news spread though social media.

The fact Homolka, now living under a different name, resided in Châteauguay sent shock waves through the community of 47,000. The revelation alarmed and upset parents at Centennial Park Elementary School in the city.

“The fact her children are here … as a parent, I’m concerned,” said Don Sel- kirk, 46, who has three children at the school. “I feel horrible for her children — I can’t believe she actually had kids — but they should not be here, or feel welcome. If she was out of the country, why come back? A child should not have to pay for a parent’s crime, but that’s unfortunately what will happen.”

Parent Alana Syvret, 31, said that “for all I know, I was sitting next to her last year at the (end-of-classes) picnic.

“This is scary. What do you tell your children? You never expect something like that here. It’s a calm, collected community.

“I’d like parents to step up and make a stink,” said Syvret, who has two children at Centennial Park. “I don’t think it should be left alone. If it hadn’t surfaced, we would have never known. I could have sent my kids there for a birthday party.

“I feel bad for her kids, but I don’t deserve to be uncomfortable sending my kids to school. People like that don’t deserve second chances.”

Reports placing Homolka in Châteauguay began surfacing on the weekend, and parents started making inquiries Monday at the school.

Neither the school nor the school board would confirm the children were students there.

Medical secretary Kim Howard, 30, said that for parents, “it’s important we know who our kids are playing with. You don’t know everyone’s parent history, who has a background you’re not comfortable with.”

While Homolka “gets to pretend she’s someone else,” others don’t necessarily accept it, she said.

“I feel for her children, they’re the ones who suffer in the end. It’s tarnished (for them) by her actions.”

Châteauguay Police would not confirm “rumours” of Homolka’s presence in the community, saying it has a duty to respect the Quebec and Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

No legal conditions exist that would require Homolka to check in with them.

Homolka, one of the most notorious killers in Canadian history, served a 12- year manslaughter sentence in a Quebec prison for the 1990s sex slayings of two Ontario schoolgirls, Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy.

Her then- husband, Paul Bernardo, was declared a dangerous offender and sentenced to life in prison while Homolka struck a deal with prosecutors in 1993 to serve 12 years in prison.

She had earlier told investigators that Bernardo abused her and made her a reluctant accomplice to the killings although it was later discovered through videotape evidence she had a far more active role than she let on.

The fact Homolka had moved back to Quebec with her husband, Thierry Bordelais, was confirmed in October 2014 by her older sister during testimony at Luka Rocco Magnotta’s high-profile murder trial.

Logan Valentini, who changed her name from Lori Homolka in 1996, said at the time Homolka had been living in Quebec with her spouse, the brother of a Quebec lawyer who’d represented her, Sylvie Bordelais.

Homolka served the entirety of her sentence and was released in 2005. She has changed her name a number of times since her release.

After sightings in and around Montreal following her release, Homolka disappeared before surfacing in Guadeloupe.

She was tracked down in the Caribbean in 2012 by journalist Paula Todd, who published the details in an ebook.