Victims' families 'distressed' over Homolka baby: lawyer

The families of murdered teenagers Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy are having difficulty coming to grips with the news that convicted killer Karla Homolka has had a baby, their lawyer said Tuesday.

Tim Danson said earlier rumours that Homolka gave birth to a baby boy last week in Montreal seem to have been confirmed in a newspaper report published Tuesday.

Gyslaine Desrosiers, the head of the Quebec Order of Nurses, told the Globe and Mail that Homolka delivered a boy last Monday at Montreal's St. Mary's Hospital.

Danson said the French and Mahaffy families were distressed to hear the news.

"The real disturbing irony is that she's having children while their own children cannot," he said.

Homolka was released from a Montreal area prison in July 2005 after serving a 12-year manslaughter term for the deaths of the teenage girls.

Homolka's former husband Paul Bernardo is serving a life sentence for murder, and has been declared a dangerous offender.

"The thought is fundamentally repugnant to them because they know that this is the person who participated in the kidnapping and murder of their children," said Danson. "The thought that she's even free, let alone having children, is something they're having trouble coming to grips with."

Danson said although Homolka has completed her prison sentence, the families believe medical evidence suggests Homolka is a dangerous psychopath who thinks only of herself.

Any decision Homolka makes revolves around herself and her own best interests, Danson said. "She would not have thought at all about the future of her child."

Homolka was released from prison under a number of restrictions, including having no contact with people under the age of 16 and regularly reporting to police. She successfully appealed to have those conditions lifted and is believed to be living in the Montreal area.