OLEAN, N.Y. — Crime victim advocates and law enforcement officials are trying to rally support for three bills that they feel would better address the needs of crime victims when it comes to matters of parole for the perpetrators of crime.
"It is hard to put into words the rage I feel," said Kaitlyn Brown. "But I am here today to speak on behalf of not only my own family but all victims of crime."
Brown was a girl when she lost her mother to murder.
It was on Mother's Day, 1999 when Penny Brown was raped and killed by Edward Kindt. Brown was attacked while walking her dogs.
"I'd have to struggle to find a more heinous crime that I've responded to in my three decades," said Cattaraugus County Sheriff Timothy Whitcomb, in recalling the brutality of the attack on the Salamanca woman.
Kindt was 15 at the time and due to his age received the maximum sentence allowed back then of 9-years to life.
He was paroled in March after serving 23 years
In recent years, due to a slew of criminal justice reforms, sentences -especially for young people - have been getting lighter, and an increasing number of those serving time for violent crime have been paroled, according to NYS Senator George Borrello.
Approvals for those seeking parole have risen in New York from 23% in 2016 to 38% in 2021 and are rising even higher, said Borrello, citing the Parole Board's annual legislative report.
"We must always recognize the possibility of redemption," said Jerome Wright, Founder and Director of the M.A.N. Program to promote youth mentorship and pro-social behavior, in a statement to 2 On Your Side. Wright, who was formerly incarcerated said, "People should not be defined solely by the worst thing they have ever done, especially for a crime committed as a 15-year-old."
However, Borrello claims Kindt didn't appear to show signs of rehabilitation while behind bars.
"He was reprimanded and disciplined for exposing himself to female employees, for contraband like drugs, and for fashioning weapons. That's who Edward Kindt was during his time in prison," Borrello said.
Local officials worked to keep Kindt from being sent back to the Southern Tier. However, the state's Department of Corrections and Community Supervision's decision to place him in Dutchess County post-release was particularly unsettling to Brown, because that's where she now lives, in a town that neighbors the one where her mother's rapist and killer now lives.
"The psychological impact that this has had on my family has been profound, devastating, and irreversible," said Brown. "In the aftermath of his release, between us, we have suffered debilitating PTSD, severe depression, a full psychotic break, and been on suicide watch multiple times."
Borrello is among a group of state lawmakers backing a series of bills that he says would bring more balance to the parole system and give victims a stronger role in the process.
SB 5315
Require a parole board decision to be unanimous
SB 5316
Allows a crime victim or representative of a crime victim to appeal parole board decision
SB 4986 / AB 2423
Requires the Parole Board to include a Law enforcement representative and a crime victim
The last one is especially appealing to Sheriff Whitcomb, who said having a member of law enforcement among those who decide parole would, "help to be able to weed through the bull crap factor on somebody who is a dangerous, manipulative, deceptive criminal,"
"The Parole Board is already required to consider many factors, including the statements of crime victims," countered Wright.
"Fundamentally, the purpose of the Parole Board is to evaluate an individual’s readiness for release once they become eligible for such consideration under the law, not to re-sentence them for a crime committed years and decades ago and punish them forever...These legislative proposals are rooted in adding perpetual punishment to the parole system when that is certainly not its role.”