Is Canada's worst pedophile really a killer?

Canada's worst pedophile, a predator who may have raped and molested thousands of young boys in a three-decade reign of sexual terror, has been denied parole for the sixth time in the past nine years. The National Parole Board said (document after the jump) that although Gary Blair Walker (inset) is now 65 years old, his "risk for sexual re-offence against children continues to be high." The board also offered, for the first time, a chilling commentary about the effect of Walker's crimes.

Walker is a rare beast in Canadian criminal history – one of the few people branded a dangerous offender (fewer than 500 criminals have been declared dangerous offenders in the past 30 years). It means Walker can be held in prison indefinitely, until it's determined he is no longer a threat. That determination is unlikely to come, ever. It is a statistical probability that Walker will die in prison. He admitted to sexually abusing roughly 200 young boys. Psychiatrists testified at his trial that it is likely there were at least 2,000 victims.

This is not a typo of zeroes. Two thousand victims.

Walker's favourite prey were 12- and 13-year-old boys. Consider that every victim is typically, repeatedly abused. Walker may have committed tens of thousands of sex crimes. In a society where murder is considered our most heinous crime, Walker never attracted the public revulsion usually reserved for serial killers. Perhaps it is owed him, given the understated, but wrenching and heartbreaking statement that appears in the June 4 written record of the National Parole Board decision to keep Walker locked up.

It is noted that at least three of your victims committed suicide.

At least three of his victims committed suicide. There could be more. How many more young men spiralled into drug abuse, despair, perhaps poverty and crime, after their childhoods were mangled, their concepts of trust and honesty shattered. Three deaths, by other means, would qualify Walker as a serial killer.

There is no denying that he cut a swath of destruction across Ontario, as he cloaked himself in the guise of protector, helper, mentor. He worked as a police officer, scout leader, hockey coach, judo instructor, school bus driver and school board courier. Each role was a ruse - a malevolent deception that concealed a monster who hunted children.

All of these occupations and interests served to portray you as a concerned citizen and helper which allowed you to fool parents and gain repeated access to their young male children.

The parole board notes that Walker's deviance is "deeply engrained." He seems content to sit in prison, where he has been for 15 years now, knowing that that tender young flesh that he still craves is beyond his reach. He has never sought parole in the past nine years. Each review of his case was automatic. Walker was first arrested in 1992, then freed on bail while awaiting trial. While free, he abused more victims. In 1994, he was declared a dangerous offender, after he had been convicted of roughly 100 sex crimes involving about 50 young boys. Walker grew up in Algonquin, a small community in eastern Ontario about 75 kilometres south of Ottawa. His sex crimes spawned a raft of civil lawsuits, outlined in this detailed story published 10 years ago in the Ottawa Sun.

Walker's parole decisions
The first decision below was issued June 4, 2009, and contains the first-ever reference to the suicides of some of Walker's victims.



Below is one document containing five separate parole board decisions, issued in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007. Walker was denied freedom in each case. When you see "Page 2" in the upper right corner, you are beginning a new decision.



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Related:
» Canada's harshest sentence hits a record high
» 'Runaway train' stopped by the court
» How child molesters are made

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