Indian school pedophile paroled

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Convicted pedophile Arthur Henry Plint will be released from Mountain Penitentiary and will be moving to a private nursing home in Kamloops after being granted parole last week.

A five-member parole board granted the 85-year-old Plint's parole citing his "age, failing memory, deteriorating health, and level of denial, and lack of motivation to preclude full participation in programs," in their four-page decision.

Plint has served almost two-thirds of his 13-year sentence on charges of idecent assault and assault causing bodily harm.

"You were convicted of over 30 charges of sexual and physical abuse of boys ranging in age from seven to 13 years," the board wrote in their report. "The abuse occurred over two periods of time while you were in a position of authority [as a dormitory supervisor at the Alberni Indian Residential School] during the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. Your sexual offending was an exercise in abuse of power and trust tainted by racism, and has had a profound effect on your victims, causing extensive and lasting psychological harm," the parole board reported.

Plint was called a "sexual terrorist" by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Douglas Hogarth, who sentenced him on March 21, 1995.

At a previous parole hearing in 1999, Plint continued to deny his actions, and the board rejected his application saying "the only change that had occurred was your advancing age."

But after a file review and parole hearing last week, Plint "expressed regret for the harm caused to your victims even though you disputed the number of convictions of which you have been found guilty and minimized the extent and frequency of the sexual offences," the board wrote in their final report.

"You apologized to your victims and expressed the wish that these acts hadn't happened. While you remain untreated and in some denial, the board recognizes that your advanced age and the careful, structured release plan put forward by your case management team provides security to the community."