Doug Ford says schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo 'should rot in a ...

Bernardo is serving a life sentence for kidnapping, torturing and killing Leslie Mahaffy, 14, and Kristen French, 15, in the early 1990s near St. Catharines.

OTTAWA—A decision to move notorious schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo to a medium-security prison is under review by the head of Canada’s corrections system — and could be reversed — but for now, why he was moved remains under wraps.

Correctional Service Canada (CSC) announced the review Monday following widespread outrage over Bernardo’s relocation from the maximum security at Kingston’s Millhaven penitentiary to the medium-security La Macaza Institution in the Laurentians, 190 km northwest of Montreal.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford was among those expressing frustration.

“Paul Bernardo should rot in a maximum-security prison for the rest of his miserable existence. Full stop,” Ford said Monday.

In a statement Monday, CSC said it is restricted by law as to what it can share about an offender’s case, but knows the decision has an impact on victims.

“These were horrific crimes and we regret any pain and concern this has caused,” the organization said.

They stressed Bernardo is still incarcerated in a secure and controlled institution, with every precaution in place to protect public security.

“We want Canadians to have confidence in our decisions,” CSC said.

“Therefore, Commissioner (Anne) Kelley has ordered an additional review of this offender’s security classification to ensure it was appropriate, evidence-based, and more importantly, adequately considered victims.”

Bernardo is serving a life sentence for kidnapping, torturing and killing Leslie Mahaffy, 14, and Kristen French, 15, in the early 1990s near St. Catharines.

He lured the girls into his car and then, with the help of his fiancée-then-wife Karla Homolka, kept them prisoner in the couple’s Port Dalhousie home where they were raped and murdered.

He was also found guilty of manslaughter in the rape and drugging death of Homolka’s sister Tammy, 15.

Before that, he was the Scarborough Rapist, admitting to sexually assaulting at least 14 young women in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Tim Danson, long-time lawyer for the French and Mahaffy families, told the Star’s Rosie DiManno he was stunned when a CSC official called him last week to tell him about Bernardo’s transfer.

He said they told him they weren’t able to disclose the reasons, based on Bernardo’s privacy interests.

“I said that doesn’t make any sense because we’ve had two parole hearings with significant evidence presented, including the fact that he’s (still) designated a dangerous offender,” the lawyer said.

“That’s a very high threshold that has to be established beyond a reasonable doubt. The parole board has said he’s just as dangerous now as he ever was. We need an explanation,” he said.

“Then I asked, can you at least tell me, in medium security, is he going to be in the general population? Is he in segregation? Is he on a range of sex offenders as he was in Millhaven? They couldn’t tell me that either. So basically I ended up with nothing.”

In the statement — which followed a meeting between the Commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino — CSC said it understands Canadians want to know the reasons for such transfers.

It said they are based on risk to public safety, escape risk, an offender’s institutional adjustment, and other case-specific information, such as psychological risk assessments.

“Let us be clear that, at any point, an inmate can be placed, or returned to, a higher security level if deemed necessary to ensure the safety of the public or our institutions. And, pending the review, we will not hesitate to do so, if needed.”

Danson said that, for the families, “just like the parole hearings, this takes them back to day one and undoes some of the progress that they’ve made just trying to still deal with the loss of their daughters, which of course never goes away. They’re very, very upset…”

When Bernardo was sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years in 1995, Justice Patrick LeSage designated him a dangerous offender.

That means the life sentence could continue indefinitely.

LeSage told the murderer that “you have no right ever to be released. You are a sexually sadistic psychopath.”

Homolka, for her part, served 12 years after a controversial plea bargain that saw her testifying against Bernardo. She is now believed to be living in Quebec.

While La Macaza is described on its website as “built on an open campus model,” it is known as an institution for sexual offenders and those at risk of being harmed by other inmates.

Mendicino told reporters Monday he believes Canadians are entitled to an explanation of why Bernardo was moved, but it is up to the CSC to provide it.

“It is important to underline that under the law, this is an independent decision from the elected government,” he said.