The Brockville Police Department says it’s keeping an eye on a sadistic Ottawa child killer released from a mental hospital and now living without supervision at an apartment down the road from an elementary school in the seaway city.
The Royal Ottawa Hospital’s secure forensic unit in Brockville notified police about the release of James Sidney Allen, the diagnosed pedophile who as a 13 year old killed eight-year-old Ricky Johnston in an Orleans swamp in 1975.
Allen, now 51, lured the boy from a park, forced him to strip, and then strangled him in a swamp by the Ottawa River.
Det.-Sgt. Paul Ladouceur said patrol officers have been briefed about Allen and the force is monitoring the child killer who was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1976 and has been in a mental hospital ever since.
As first reported by the Citizen on Wednesday, the Ontario Review Board granted Allen a discharge on Dec. 3, and one year after the same board denied his release after hearing from a doctor who warned “the risk associated with his “pedophilic personality disorder … is that a vulnerable woman or child could be subject to significant harm.
A sister of the dead Orleans boy visited residents on Pine Street in Brockville Wednesday night to warn them about their new neigbour. Some neighbours have put up warning posters with the man’s photograph.
Because the authorities did not warn the public, the family of the dead boy turned to the Citizen earlier this week to do so.
Johnston’s family is frustrated by Allen’s release, given that only a year ago the same board said it would be against the best interests of public safety and decided instead to keep him a secure forensic unit.
One Crown attorney said last year that a discharge would give Allen “more freedom than is actually good for him.”
Allen, who recently received access to a computer and home telephone for the first time in his life, self administers his drugs to suppress violent sexual urges. He also suffers from a personality disorder that one doctor described as “so conflicted”, according to review board documents.
Documents show Allen complained last year that he wasn’t getting enough support from the hospital team and they are not at hand all the time when he needs them. The review board also noted in 2011 that Allen relies on staff support and that the hospital team’s ability to respond is important for his risk management.
In 1999, Allen was subjected to repeated hormone testing to see if his injection drugs were keeping a lid on his violent sexual urges. Reports show he was still aroused by sexual sadism and pedophile.
James Allen was 13 when he killed eight-year-old Ricky Johnston. The young killer initially helped in the search, leading police far away from the crime scene. He then co-operated, and later confessed after police found Ricky Johnston’s naked body at 2:25 a.m. on June 14, 1975.
According to his discharge order, Allen is required to check in with the hospital once a week, abstain from alcohol and drugs, submit urine samples, take rehab courses, and notify the hospital of any travel plans outside Ontario.
He is also prohibited from being alone with any child under the age of 16.
twitter.com/crimegarden
