Experts defend conjugal visits after Ellard pregnancy announcement
Posted October 30, 2016 7:33 am.
Last Updated October 30, 2016 4:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER – Lee Chapelle says being able to live with his wife and children for a few days at a time while in prison motivated him to finish his sentence and never go back.
Chapelle’s family was able to spend up to three days at a time with him every couple months thanks to Canada’s long-standing private family visit program.
Experts say the program is valuable because it lowers the likelihood an inmate will reoffend after being released by allowing them to maintain important bonds with outside support figures.
Lisa Kerr, a law professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, says most federal inmates are eventually released and it’s in society’s best interest to make that process as successful as possible.
Only federal institutions offer the visits, which typically take place in small living units in a separate area of the penitentiary.
Chapelle says private family visits give prisoners the chance to take off their figurative prison mask and to be reminded of what they have to live for and work towards.
The program has been in the spotlight after a recent media report that notorious killer Kelly Ellard is pregnant following a conjugal visit.
