A child sex offender who reoffended while serving a jail term in the community will require “indefinite” supervision because he will be a pedophile for his entire life, according to a forensic psychiatrist.
On Monday, Dr. Shabehram Lohrasbe testified at the dangerous offender hearing of Ethan James Fergusson. He said from a therapeutic view, long-term supervision for pedophiliac sex offenders is more successful than lengthy penitentiary terms, which don’t give offenders the ability to practice their coping techniques in the community.
Without effective treatment, Fergusson is a high risk to reoffend against male children, Lohrasbe said, detailing an assessment he did in March.
Court heard Fergusson, 29, is an untreated sex offender who was just starting his community sex offender programming for a 2016 child luring conviction when he reoffended in 2017. He was living in a halfway house after getting early release, which allowed him to take community programming.
Fergusson was in the first phase of his program when he started contacting a 17-year-old boy, who, unbeknownst to authorities, he had abused in the past. Fergusson begged him to send sexual photos, but the boy declined and alerted police. Officers found child pornography of the boy on Fergusson’s cellphone and uncovered the past sex offences.
The fact that Fergusson had committed both “hands-on” abuse and online child sex crimes prompted the Crown to seek a dangerous offender designation — a sentencing process that involves either indefinite or fixed-length sentences followed by supervision periods of up to 10 years.
The defence is opposing the designation.
Fergusson is a homosexual pedophile, which Lohrasbe said statistically puts him at a higher risk to reoffend. He is also a non-exclusive pedophile and therefore capable of having adult relationships — a positive aspect when it comes to rehabilitation.
Lohrasbe said he believes Fergusson is genuinely sorry for what he’s done and that he doesn’t want to continue hurting children, despite reoffending.
“Many of us feel terrible about things we do and then do it again,” Lohrasbe said during cross-examination.
He said Fergusson’s “intellectual remorse” is just a starting point, and that he needs to find a deeper motivation to change his behaviour.
While Fergusson isn’t responsible for his deviancy, he is responsible for his actions, Lohrasbe noted. He described the offender as guarded, adding the only way he can learn how to curtail his urges is if he is open about his offences.
Lohrasbe agreed with defence lawyer Lisa Watson that her client is making progress when it comes to disclosing information. He also started proactively taking libido-reducing medication, court heard.
But he needs high intensity sex offender programming, which is only offered in federal institutions, Lohrasbe testified. He said the community programming Fergusson was taking during his provincial jail sentence wasn’t ideal.