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WOODSTOCK — Charges have been laid in the abduction and murder of eight-year-old Victoria “Tori” Stafford.
Two accused made brief court appearances in a Woodstock court this morning to be arraigned on charges relating to the police investigation that started when Stafford was reported missing on April 8.
Terri-Lynn McClintic, 18, is charged with abducting Stafford from her parents Tara McDonald and Rodney Stafford. She was also read charges of assisting Michael Thomas C. S. Rafferty in escaping the area.
Rafferty, 28, was also read charges of having abducted Stafford, and then, in Woodstock and elsewhere in Ontario, having murdered her. McClintic was read a third charge of having been an accessory to murder after the fact.
Security at the Oxford County Court House was high for the accused’s first appearance, as all members of the public entering the courtroom were searched with a metal detector. McClintic was read her charges first, appearing in the basement courtroom dressed all in black with her hair in braids. She remained composed as her charges were read.
Rafferty was visibly upset as he entered the courtroom, exchanging glances with his mother who was seated in the front row. Prior to the arrival of the justice of the peace, Rafferty broke down and began crying.
When he stood to have his charges read and was asked if he understood his charges, he said “yes” through tears.
McClintic is listed as a resident of Wilson Street, where a couple of Oxford Community Police Service cruisers were standing guard Wednesday. Rafferty is listed as a resident of Tennyson Street.
Both have been remanded in custody for a video appearance in Woodstock court on Thursday May 28. While McClintic was escorted out of the Oxford County Court House almost immediately, Rafferty was held in the building for several more hours as media continued to gather outside the prisoner-transfer area.
Neither has counsel and their application for legal aid is one of the reasons why the case has been held over.
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kantina
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