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Vol. 22 No. 6, Folio 11 40 cents Court appearances set for teens charged with murder Two teenagers charged with first degree murder will appear for the first believe is the murder weapon. time in Midland Provincial Court Feb. Investigation in- 3: side and outside A 16-year-old female and James Fran- 527 William St. cis Tobin, 18, of 222 Manly St.; continued through Midland, are charged with killing Krista) the weekend and Sepp, a child care worker. into Tuesday. Sepp was working alone in a group Sepp was sup- home at 527 William Street in Midland posed to be in the last Friday when she was stabbed and group home with cut with a knife. : two Kinark clients Two group home clients were in her through Friday charge. The 16-year-old female, charg- night, Bates said. ed with the murder, is one of the two Midland town clients. police found her The Young Offenders Act does not body in the permit authorities to release, or the deserted house at Wednesday, February 8, 1989 Fine carving Bart Brophy stands beside his team's book ends sculpture at the Canadian na- tional snow sculpting competition in Mon- treal. His team, which includes Neil Cox and Gayle Hudson, won third prize at the Jan. 27-29 event. Brophy plans to enter in the upcoming Winterama sculpting contest, which he's taken part in before. (Photo by Gayle Hudson) Insurance could hurt The police have a knife which they Tobin ...murder charge Winterama by Robert Risk Staff Writer Some of Winterama's events, such as skydiving and snowmobiling, may have to be cancelled, due to the cost of insuring them. Steve Robillard, Winterama chairman, said the committee doesn't have enough money for proper coverage, which is news media to report, information about the 16-year-old girl. Sepp, 21, was finishing her first week as a child care worker in the employ of Kinark Child and Family Services. She was the only staff member on du- ty in the group home with two Kinark clients on the Thursday night-Friday morning shift last week. _ The Sault Ste. Marie native was stabb- ed in her front and-back. She died bet- ween 11:30:p.m. and 3:20 a.m., Police Chief Ernie Bates said. 3:20 a.m. Her shift would have started at 10 p.m-, a Kinark representative said. Midland police went to the group home after receiving a tip from the Bar- rie city police. The Barrie police relayed information it received from one of the two clients, who was supposed to be sleeping in the house. That client surrendered to the Barrie police. He was released later the same day, after answering police questions. Tobin and the 16-year-old girl from Krista Sepp ... left alone after a week essential for holding "active" events. "The helicopter rides will have to be loaded on the ice (in the harbor) so the town won't be liable if there's an acci- dent," said Robillard. Having to use the ice means warm weather conditions might force the rides to be scratched from the program, he added. The smash up derby on Sunday is still scheduled because the Lions Club is spon- soring the event and is covered for it under their insurance policy. Robillard said it was unfortunate the club is unable to cover other events under the same policy, but is looking at alternatives. He said he hopes to meet with town council to discuss ways of resolving the situation, including more funding to pay for insurance. "It wasn't a problem in the past, but we ve become a litigious society. The peo- ple in town will have to decide whether they want interesting events (and pay for the insurance) or a euchre tournament." Similarity to Trudeau stops here - says Lewis Doug Lewis does not anticipate that he | will continue to follow former prime : minister Pierre Trudeau's career path. Cuts on her hands suggest she tried : the home were arrested in a stolen to defend herself, he said. Kinark vehicle near Bracebridge. Tobin and the 16-year-girl were denied bail in Barrie Provincial Court Monday. Tobin is in custody in the Bar- rie jail. The girl is confined to Bramp- ton's Vanier Centre for Women. A murder and suicide in 1981 were the last killings in Midland. The last charge of murder was laid 20 years ago. Publicity brings new focus to old problem union Officials charge A killing in Midland has focused public attention on an old problem, union official Neil Pollock says: staffing of group homes at night by only one person. Pollock is Ontario Public Service Employees Union representative for the 25 to 30 Kinark group home employees in Midland. Staff, as separated from the management of such group homes, do not necessarily know the background of young people with whom they are alone, Pollock said Monday. In a separate interview, a Kinark representative said staff and management at the local level are aware of the background of each client. Krista Sepp knew the background of the two clients for whom she was responsible at ng time of her murder, Dr. Rick Morris said. Because of the requirements for con- fidentiality about details of the record of a young offender, group home workers don't know with whom they are dealing, "unles they make it their business" to find out, in the way employees can learn things unofficially, Pollock said. Morris, Kinark corporate assistant direc- or of program services, said Kinark anagement and staff assess each young erson before admission to a Kinark rogram. Kinark accepts into its group homes hildren with emotional, behavioral and the press, Pollock said. 'other kinds of social difficulties," Morris Morris refused a reporter's request to in- aid. terview a staff member. Didn't know offenders were in home, say Midland cops How many group homes are operated in Midland by Kinark Child and Fami- ly Services? Town officials on Monday weren't sure. And how many clients of Kinark group homes might have violent backgrounds? Police Chief Ernie Bates on Monday said he has yet to be told officially that any young offenders are clients in the local Kinark group homes. And even on the occasion that Kinark staff call the local police, Mayor Ted Symons said, they are "reluctant" to give police details about the individual. Kinark workers also help children and their families by going to private homes, he said. He described Kinark as a private, non- profit corporation which operates 17 group homes in Ontario, four in Midland. Clients range in age from eight up to 18. Clients are referred by the Children's Aid Society, by parents, and by the probation office, Morris said. A volunteer board of directors runs the non-profit corporation. Kinark is licenced and funded entirely by the provincial Ministry of Community and Social Ser- vices, he said. In 1984 Kinark took over operation of the Browndale homes in Midland, he said. Morris described group homes as children's mental health centres. Pollock described the Kinark group homes as similar to hundreds of similar Breve homes BETASS the province. The federal Young Offenders Act re- The Kinark people look like govern- quires confidentially about details of ment employees," Pollock said. "They talk youths with criminal records under age like government employees. They are 18 funded by the provincial government. But : Kinark is not a government agency." Kinark is an example, Pollock said, of the provincial government's cutting direct social service to save money. "I don't believe that Kinark is lavishly funded," he said. Kinark management has instructed the staff not to speak to anyone, particularly Federal justice minister Doug Lewis (who also represents this riding in Parliament) suggested in a television in- terview on the weekend that the act is due for a review. Midland's mayor had a long list of questions on Monday about Kinark. He didn't expect to get all the answers pecaliee of the Young Offenders Act, he said. Both Lewis, Simcoe North's MP since 1979, and Trudeau, are lawyers. Trudeau was the. federal minister of justice. Lewis became federal minister of justice Jan. 30. Trudeau went from minister of justice to prime minister. "T don't think that's going to happen" (to me), Lewis said on his second day as minister of justice. Cont'd on pg. 5