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Father of murder victim pushing for change

BANGOR, Maine (NEWS CENTER) - On Friday Robert Burton will be sentenced for the murder of Stephanie Gebo at Penobscot County Court.

Gebo's father, Vance Ginn, has been advocating for an ankle bracelet monitoring system to be implemented state wide since his daughter's murder in 2015.

"I can't bring her back. I cant change the situation. The only thing I can do, is try to get protection of the rest of the state so they don't have to go through this," said Ginn.

Ginn believes his daughter would still be alive had Burton been wearing an ankle monitor. For the past two years he has been meeting with state and local law makers to make the requirement state-wide.

"It should be a no brainer," said Ginn. "This does not cost us anything as a people in the state of Maine. The only one that it costs is the perpetrator. It is the only means of protection that we have other than the protection that we have now."

According to Ginn the offender would pay for the daily cost of wearing the ankle bracelet. They would be required to wear and pay for it in order to post bail following a domestic violence incident. The cost is about seven dollars a day.

Somerset County is one of the few counties in Maine that has an ankle monitoring system in place. They began the program in October of 2014.

"We are able to make inclusion zones and exclusion zones," said Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster. "We can know where the perpetrator is."

Ginn says he will not stop advocating until ankle monitoring systems are a state-wide requirement. He wants to keep other domestic violence victims safe.

"I am a person where I don't stop. I am determined to get this through the whole state," said Ginn. "If it takes me until the day I will see my daughter. I will work on this. And I will get it accomplished."

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