A former prison psychologist has pleaded guilty to aiding the escape prison of an inmate she counseled and with whom she had an affair. Erin Danto, 35, was sentenced to a two year sentence to be served in a provincial reformatory after pleading guilty to charges of breach of trust and being an accessory after the fact to the escape of imprisoned killer, Andrew Wood. After her sentencing, Danto simply said, "“I’m sorry,” when given a chance to speak. Charges of obstructing justice and being a party to the offence of escaping lawful custody were withdrawn as part of a plea bargain struck with prosecutors.
After Wood fled minimum-security Frontenac Institution on June 13, Wood and Danto were caught together in a car 30 kilometers north of Kingston on the evening of June 18. Police had been maintaining surveillance of Danto after she left her home. It was later determined that she had supplied Wood with a cellphone and camping equipment and had set up the campsite where Wood spent five nights after his escape.
“The administration of justice suffered great harm because of what you did,” Mr. Justice Rommel Masse said, before he sentenced Danto this afternoon. “You threw it away,” he said. “You brought dishonour on your profession, you brought dishonour on your family and yourself and you brought disrepute on the administration of justice.”
Her lawyer, John Ecclestone, called a client "a good and decent person" who is paying dearly for a mistake. Wood has been sentenced to an additional three years in prison. He is already serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for fifteen years.
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