Kelly, Russ. This is my story...my life!

Kelly, Russ. This is my story...my life!

 

 

As a teenager, Russ Kelly and a friend went on a vandalism spree damaging the property of 22 victims. In his pre-sentence report, the probation officer handling the case suggested that the two young offenders meet their victims and pay restitution. In this article, Kelly tells of the path that led to his offense and the impact of meeting with his victims.

 

 

Present Day

 

Hello and good day! My name is Russell Kelly, it is September, 2005, I have now been happily married for 14 years. Two years ago I graduated from the Law and Security Administration program at Conestoga College in Kitchener, Ontario. In my spare time I volunteer for Community Justice Initiatives of Waterloo Region. My volunteering involves Community Mediation, Victim Offender Reconciliation, guest speaking engagements concerning Restorative Justice, and generally promoting Community Justice Initiatives and its many programs. This promotion is done through radio, television and newspaper interviews.

This year celebrates 31 years of Restorative Justice in Canada. A book on the history of Community Justice Initiatives of Waterloo Region was released in June, 2004. The author of this book interviewed many people including myself in order to give a clear picture of the history of Restorative Justice and how it all started in Kitchener, Ontario. You may be wondering why I was interviewed for the book and this is something I am willing to share with you.

 

 

My Formative Years

 

My seven siblings and I were raised in Mount Forest, Ontario. When I was six years old, my father died, leaving my mother to look after her eight children. At the young age of fifteen my mother also died and my eldest brother became my official guardian. At the time, he had just gotten married and was putting his life back on track because he had made a few bad choices and poor decisions. Dad was not there to guide him and keep him out of trouble. This was a scary time for me and a challenging time for him. While I lived under his roof I lived under his law because he did not want me to make the same mistakes and I respect him for that. He did his best!

 

Feeling unjustly victimized, and deeply hurt at the loss of my mother I was a confused teenager. In 1971, there weren't programs in place to properly deal with grief and the trauma that I felt when I lost my mother. At the age of fifteen, I still hadn't understood (or should I say - accepted) the loss of my father. Sure, I went to the school guidance counselor, only to have appointments set up to see a psychiatrist who in turn only told me that I was not crazy. He did not help me deal with my emotions and anger. Talking to my siblings about my problems was not an option and our aunts and uncles didn't have what you would call close ties with our family. Looking for ways to deal with my emotional pain I turned to drugs and alcohol.

 

 

Bad Habit Turns To Vice

 

By 1974, I had developed a strong reliance on drugs and alcohol as well as the people that could feed my established habit. Since the grief and pain wasn't dealt with in a positive way and vented properly, I would get very hostile when I got drunk and often it felt as though my head was going to explode. It was difficult to think clearly and rationalize sensibly. There were times that I would end up in fights and very often have vague memories of what happened the night before. Black-outs were a common occurrence. I was not the person that I wanted to be, nor the person that my parents wanted me to be. They sure wouldn't have been proud of me. I was on a path to nowhere and life went on.

 

One night in May of 1974, I went to Elmira, Ontario, to visit some of my so-called friends. Of course that visit was to drink and get drunk. My friend and I went for a drive with a case or two of beer. We drove around the back roads for hours drinking beer and getting drunker by the minute. It was after mid-night when we got pulled over by the police. Things were different back then, the officer took what was left of our beer, gave us a stern warning and told us to go home.

 

 

A Crazy Senseless Night

 

We made our way back into town and went to my friends apartment building. Upon arriving at the apartment building, my friend suggested we go raise some hell. Not being of sound mind, I shrugged my shoulders and said something like, "What the hell, why not?" I asked my friend what he had in mind and he suggested that we proceed to wreak havoc and destroy whatever was in our path. I am not proud of what we did that night in Elmira, but I'll tell you anyway. I had a switchblade and my accomplice had a sharp kitchen knife that we used to slash 24 car tires. We slashed car seats and destroyed a car radiator. Rocks were thrown through large plate glass windows in homes and the front window at the local beer store. A boat was pulled into the street, punctured and overturned. A gazebo was damaged, a flashing light at an intersection was damaged and a cross was broken from a display case at a local church. Side windows and car windshields were smashed with beer bottles. A garden table was thrown into a fishpond and a fence destroyed. In all, 22 properties received damage. All this happened in about a two hour span from about 3:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. When we had enough of this craziness we headed back to the apartment and passed-out.

 

 

Busted

 

The police were pounding at the door at about 7:00 a.m. Someone had seen us running through the back-yards and gave a description to the police. It didn't take long to figure out the two young men that were pulled over the previous night were the likely suspects. My accomplice and I were detained in separate rooms for questioning. The police did not use the good cop - bad cop routine with us. They just asked us if we were the ones that committed all the damage the previous night. I knew we messed up big time and I felt terrible about it, so I admitted my part in the crime spree. However, my accomplice was not as forthcoming with his guilt. Indeed, he did confess to his part of the crime after learning of my confession. We both knew that we messed up severely and it was only right to own up to our mistakes and face the consequences.

 

 

Judicial System Takes A Turn

 

At the time of "The Elmira Case", Mark Yantzi was a probation officer and a volunteer with the Mennonite Central Committee in Kitchener. Mark was handed our case and in a meeting with other volunteer members he suggested, "Wouldn't it be neat for these offenders to meet with their victims? The offenders could be accountable for their actions and repair the harm done." Mark felt there could be some therapeutic value in this approach. Yet, having this novel idea, he didn't think the idea was any more than just that. Another volunteer, Dave Worth, told Mark that his idea was a great one and it should not only be further investigated, but to suggest it to the judge. Mark attached an addendum to the back of the pre-sentence report for the judge. Judge Gordon McConnell saw no precedence in law to allow this idea. However, Judge McConnell was tired of the revolving door of justice and was looking for a new approach for justice. There was no basis in law to order my accomplice and I to do this, so Mark asked us and advised it would be best for all concerned. My accomplice and I decided it was the right thing to do. If we did not go along with this novel suggestion - we were sure to see the inside of jail for a long time. Having agreed to meet our victims opened the door for the judge to include this as part of our probation order.

 

 

Meeting Our Victims

 

Meeting our victims was one of the hardest things I had ever done in my entire life. Accompanied by Mark Yantzi (our probation officer) and Dave Worth (a volunteer), we walked up to the victims front door to apologize, hear what the victims had to say, determine the amount of restitution, ask for forgiveness and assure the victims that they were not targeted. It was a random act of vandalism.

 

Some victims offered forgiveness while others wanted to give us a good whipping. Nonetheless, we survived meeting the victims of our crime spree and returned a couple of months later with certified cheques to restore the amount of out-of-pocket expenses not covered by insurance. The total damage was around $2,200; my accomplice and myself each had to pay $550 restitution and each paid a $200 fine. As well, we were placed on 18 months probation. I thought that was the end of that shameful part of my life. Little did I know what would become of this judicial experiment. Unknowingly to me the Victim Offender Reconciliation Program was born.

 

 

Finding Out

 

Due to a back injury caused by many years of factory work involving heavy repetitive lifting, I was forced to change my type of work. My choice of new employment would be the security field. I was enrolled in the Law and Security Administration program at Conestoga College in Kitchener, Ontario.

 

We often had guest speakers give us presentations on various topics. One day while sitting in a Community Services class we had a guest speaker from Community Justice Initiatives of Waterloo Region in Kitchener. Julie Friesen started the story by saying that a probation officer by the name of Mark Yantzi was handed an unusual case in 1974. I thought to myself, Mark Yantzi was my probation officer in 1974. Then Julie went on to talk about two drunken teenagers that went on a vandalism spree in the town of Elmira. That is when it hit me. I mean it really hit me! I knew she was talking about me and I was overwhelmed, big-time! My palms were sweating and my heart was pounding so much that I was having trouble taking notes. My face felt like it was quite red - I guess from all the blood rushing through my body. Time seemed to pass very slowly. Julie mentioned that her office tried to contact the two offenders for the 25th anniversary, but they could not be located. I thought to myself, wait a minute; I only live twenty minutes away. It was a two hour class and after much deliberation, I decided to tell Julie who I am. We exchanged numbers and the next thing I knew, I was talking to Mark in his office after 28 years.

 

 

A Time To Give Back

 

All this had made such an impression on me that I joined Community Justice Initiatives, took the mediation training and have spent over 250 volunteer hours in criminal court advising Crown Attorneys, defence lawyers, victims and offenders of the cases appropriate for VORP. In addition, my spare time allows me to do other mediation cases and promote Restorative Justice philosophy, the agency for which I volunteer and its many programs. As well, I enjoy sharing my story with all that will listen.

 

Like I said earlier in this article, "I am not proud of what I did; however, I am extremely proud of what has become of it." It still amazes me that something so wrong could result in something so good that has affected many, many lives in a positive way.

 

In closing, I would like to thank the countless number of people that contributed to enhancing and fine tuning the program to where it is today. This includes but not limited to the many volunteers, teachers, judges, and others in the judicial system; as well as the many victims and offenders that have chosen to participate in mediation to resolve conflict. It is the better way to go!

 

By the way, I applied for and received my pardon from the Government of Canada prior to starting my college program. This allowed me a clear police records check which in turn allowed me to volunteer. Isn't it funny how some things work out?

 

This is my story............my life!

 

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