Parole Board extends release for rapist behind 1980 killing of Calgary girl
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Canada’s parole board has extended the day parole for a man who abducted and killed a five-year-old Calgary girl in January 1980.
Harold Smeltzer is serving a life sentence.
He was 24 when he abducted Kimberley Thompson with plans to sexually assault her, but he killed her after she recognized him and then dumped her body in a garbage bin.
Smeltzer was later identified by two girls he sexually assaulted, aged 10 and 11, and convicted on murder and rape charges. He has also confessed to sexual offences against more than 40 girls under the age of 13.
The September parole board release decision references victim impact statements in his file from 2008 to 2020.
Members of Thompson’s family say they sought therapy and struggled to deal with the traumatic death, while a separate victim says she still has not recovered from his sexual abuse after 48 years.
Smeltzer’s release comes with certain conditions, including avoiding places where children are expected to be and not accessing explicit material.
The parole board found that while his offences were “horrific,” they were committed nearly five decades ago, and his release plan would help mitigate his risk.
His most recent psychological report from 2019 determined he was at an “average” risk of committing another sexual or violent offence in the next five years, but would be manageable in the community.
He has spent 14 years in the community “with no noted concerns,” according to the parole board.
In 2008, Smeltzer had been released to a halfway house in Regina but it’s unclear if Smeltzer remains there as the Parole Board of Canada says that information is not publicly available.
That parole was revoked in 2012 when a DVD with sexual content was found in his room, but was reinstated a couple of months later.
In September last year, he was allowed to continue his day parole in his own personal apartment in a building of exclusively men.
The Regina Police Service did not immediately respond on Thursday to questions about whether Smeltzer remains in the community.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2026.