Kevin Maryk, jailed for hiding his kids in Mexico and sex assault, to be released from prison

A Winnipeg man whomade national headlines after he abducted his kidsin 2008 and hid them in Mexico for four years is scheduled to be released from prison Thursday.

In 2014, Kevin Maryk pleaded guilty to two counts of child abduction and was sentenced to four years in prison.

In May 2016, while serving time for the abduction,Marykpleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the children's mother, EmilyCablek, between 2002 and 2006 before he abducted his kids.

• Missing Winnipeg children found in Mexico
• Kevin Maryk sentenced to 4 years for abducting his 2 children
• Kevin Maryk, jailed for hiding his kids in Mexico, gets 4 years for sex assault

"I knew this day was coming, so it's just kind of dealing with it day by day as it comes," Cablektold CBC News Wednesday.

A publication ban was put in place to protect Cablek's identity at the time of Maryk'sguilty plea to sexual assault, but that ban was lifted by the courts in November at the request of Cablek and Crown attorney Debbie Buors.

Maryk was handed another four-year sentence for the assault but was given two years credit for time spent in custody. After serving two-thirds of the remaining sentence the period after which statutory release is usually grantedhe is scheduled tobe released Jan. 25.

"I'm concerned about my kids and how they are and how they cope. That's my main goal is to make sure they are OK," Cablek said.

The kids Abby and Dominic arenow teenagers, but were just five and seven years old when they went missing in 2008while on a court-approved visit with their father. Maryk never returned the children to Cablek, who had legal custody.

The children werefound in Mexico in 2012 and returned to their mother.

Cablek says she's been told Maryk will have the right to seek visitation with the children upon his release.

"I think it's crazy that he has the right to do that.I mean, he abducted them, he went to jail for abducting them[while] going against a court order, so the fact that he's allowed to do this againI mean, that's frustrating."

They've done very well, they've worked very hard for what they have and they are very happy.- Emily Cablekspeaking about her kids

Cablek said the kids have no interest in having contact with their father.

"They've done very well, they've worked very hard for what they have and they are very happy," she said, and she doesn't want anything to jeopardize that.

"I think the fact that they have already said that they don't want to see him speaks volumes, and I think the court should respect that."

During his statutory release, Maryk will still have to abide by a no-contact order, which prevents him from reaching out to Cablek for the remainder of his sentence. He will also have two years of unsupervised probation that will start once his sentence ends.

'Our system sucks'

Cablek has been vocal in the past about her feelings on Maryk's sentence.

"I was always a little bit upset about the sentence just because he received four years, and he had taken the kids for four years," she said.

"It wasn't fair that he got equal to what I was sentenced to when I didn't even have a choice."

Along with sexual assault against Cablek, Maryk was also charged with uttering threats and living off the avails of prostitution, but those charges were later dropped as part of the plea arrangement.

"I wish he had been held more accountable for what he did to me, but that's not going to happen," Cableksaid.

"Our [justice] system sucks. It really does suck as far as victims go.

"[Victims] really don't have very much when it comes to rights. It always seems to be about what [the offender's]rights are, what the system can't do to them."

Statutory release effective: advocate

When sentenced for the sexual assault, Maryk was ordered to submit his DNA and register as a sex offender. He's also prohibited from having weapons for 10 years.

The John Howard Society's John Hutton said those released on statutory release are being gradually re-introduced to society under supervision and restrictions and aren't getting out of a portion of their sentence.

It's actually safer to have people come out in a gradual way with support and supervision and conditions in place.- John Hutton

"It's actually safer to have people come out in a gradual way with support and supervision and conditions in place, than to just have someone go to the end of their sentence and then be able to walk out the door of the correctional centre without any conditions or restrictions on them," he said.

Hutton said the recidivism rate drops further the longer a person spends on parole or on statutory release, as compared to being incarcerated for their entire sentence.

If someone on statutory release violates the conditions of their release, they are returned to jail to finish their sentence, and could face other charges depending on what conditions were breached.

Moving on

Cablek said she's now focusing on moving on with her life and tries not to let what happened define her.

"As a victim, you can try to forget. You're not going to forget, [but] you can move on with your life and of course, that's what me and my kids have both done."

Cablek is working on a book about her experiencethat is set be published later thisyear.

"I want to help people with what I went through," she said.

Emily Cablek speaks out about the abduction of her kids and domestic violence

7 years ago

Duration 2:44

A Winnipeg mother whose children were abducted and taken to Mexico nine years ago is sharing her story of sexual abuse and exploitation for the first time in hopes of helping other victims of domestic violence.

Cablek said she doesn't want to spend her time worrying about Maryk being free.

"I don't want to end up confining my kids because of my worries about their safety or my worries about what goes on when they're not with me," she said.

"Things could have been worse and I have my children today, so that's the main thing."