It’s just another sign of the soft-on-crime times, critics say.
A New York man who was convicted at age 15 of randomly raping and killing a 39-year-old mom on Mother’s Day in 1999 will be freed from prison this week — thanks to what critics call the state’s “pro-criminal’’ parole board.
“Thank God our parents are no longer here,” said Kirsten McElvene, the sister of tragic victim Penny Brown, to WGRZ after the board’s ruling surfaced. “Thank God they’ve passed away, because this for sure would have killed them.”
Twisted teen Edward Kindt ambushed Brown, a married mom of two and nurse, while she was jogging with her two dogs in upstate Salamanca.
Kindt raped and then strangled Brown with her dogs’ leashes.
He was sentenced to nine years to life behind bars, the max at the time for criminals under age 16.
State legislators have since passed “Penny’s Law,” which calls for 15 years to life in prison for those under 16 who commit second-degree murder, as Kindt did.
A spokesman for the Parole Board confirmed that Kindt, who is now 39 and at the upstate Elmira Correctional Facility, could be released on or before Wednesday, after several members of the Parole Board interviewed him Feb. 17 and decided to free him.
The rep would not immediately provide names of the three parole board members who participated in the decision to release Kindt.
Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed the chairman of the parole board, Darryl Towns, a former state assemblyman and housing commissioner, last year.
The other 13 members were selected by Democratic former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, though six are holdovers who have not been replaced by Hochul, according to agency records.
“It’s an extra lemon in the lemonade, I guess, that doesn’t have any sugar,” McElvene told WGRZ of the board’s decision. “It is unbelievable to me. I just feel like. how can he come out the same age she was taken from us?
“I don’t think there’s reform for that,” she said of Kindt’s crime. “Even though he’s been in there for years, I just think that’s something that’s just there.”
Bradleigh Brown, one of Brown’s “heartbroken” daughters, wrote on Facebook, “This is a life sentence for our family and a mere 24 years for him.
“There are no words to describe the endless injustice we will endure. He took the spirits of so many people that day.
“Despite a violent sexual assault record, he is NOT being added to the sex offender registry,” Bradleigh added of Kindt. “We are devastated and outraged, but want to relay this information to the public to bring whatever awareness we can to county residents.”
The Parole Board has come under fire in recent years for releasing convicted cop killers — including Anthony Bottom and Herman Bell, who in 1971 assassinated NYPD officers Joseph Piagentini and Waverly Jones after luring them into a public housing complex in Harlem with a bogus 911 call. Both killers were members of the Black Liberation Army terrorist organization.
Critics have complained that Democrats have shifted too far to the left in favor of criminals’ rights over crime victims and law abiding citizens, citing changes to the cashless bail and discovery laws and raising the age for criminal culpability.
State Sen. George Borrello, a Republican whose district includes Salamanca, told The Post on Monday that the parole board’s latest decision involving Kindt is just another example of Democrats who control state government caring more about hardened criminals than victims and law-abiding citizens.
“The Democrats are in denial that there’s evil in the world,” he said. “People who are rapists, murderers and cop killers are not easily [able to be rehabilitated], if at all.
“The pro-criminal parole board is going to release him against the wishes of the victim’s family and despite being a risk to public safety,” Borrello said.
“The Parole Board’s decision is reckless and an insult to Ms. Brown’s family and crime victims everywhere.”
Cattaraugus County Sheriff Tim Whitcomb, who worked on the case as a young officer, told WGBR that Kindt’s murder of Brown “confirmed for me that the existence of evil is real.
“I’m angry about [his release], flat-out,” Whitcomb said. “I’m very disappointed with New York State Parole.”
Hochul’s office had no immediate comment.
But state Republican Party chairman Ed Cox told The Post, “Edward Kindt should die in prison.
“Justice demands it,” Cox said. “Democrats have flipped the rule of law on its head: Once again, the freedom of violent, remorseless criminals outweighs the safety of our communities and justice for the families of victims.”
