MP SAYS HE HELPED KIDNAP B.C. GIRL FROM DRUG DEALERS

Fraser Valley Reformer says he asked police not to interfere in the
operation.

Reform party House leader Randy White revealed Friday he helped kidnap
a 15-year-old Fraser Valley girl in July in order to free her from the
clutches of drug dealers.

The girl was addicted to and dealing drugs, was living with at least
five men over 30, and "there was sex involved," the Langley-Abbotsford
MP told a Toronto hearing on crime prevention.

He said the problem wouldn't have occurred if Canada hadn't lowered
from 16 to 14 the age at which children can legally engage in
consensual sex.

"The whole thing was a kidnapping," White later told reporters at the
Reform-sponsored gathering.

"Since when is it that mothers have to kidnap their daughters to get
them away from the clutches of people who are abusing them?"

White wouldn't say if he was present when the girl was grabbed by her
mother on the streets. He said his role was to contact airport
authorities and the police to ensure there was no interference with
the plan.

He said police broke no laws, although they were aware of the
abduction and didn't prevent it.

"If this mother had a got caught in the act, police would have had to
arrest her. That's why I had to make some calls and say, 'Hey, could
you please keep away?'"

White said the girl was taken to another province against her will and
is living in a group facility designed to rehabilitate troubled teens.

"She is starting to respond well," he said. "It is a success
story."

Police, who originally informed the mother they could do nothing
because of the age-of-consent law, went along "because everybody
understands the problem; they just appreciate the difficulties," White
said.

White said local police would never charge him and he defied Crown
prosecutors to take him to court, saying he would use the publicity to
defend the abduction and demand the age-of-consent be raised to 16.

"Get me in a courtroom on a charge like that and just watch what
happens," he said.

White wouldn't identify the woman and her daughter, saying he fears
the men the girl lived with would use the information to get her back.

He said the situation was not only tragic but financially
debilitating, since the mother is now considering selling her house to
pay for the costs of the out-of-province treatment centre.

"I don't think people are aware of how much this goes on in the
country," he said.