Violent perpetrator revealed affair with court-appointed psychologist to her husband in harassment campaign – Winnipeg Free Press

It has all the ingredients of a made-for-TV courtroom drama:

A former inmate and mental health patient was once embroiled in a shocking murder case.

A court-ordered psychologist whose ongoing assessments were critical to the terms of his custody.

And a ‘campaign of intimidation’ that erupted after the two had a sexual affair.

Although a court-ordered ban prevents the publication of details that could identify those involved, the case revealed a serious breach of professional standards as part of the criminal review process.

The court record shows the man was sentenced to three years’ probation after pleading guilty to one count of criminal intimidation; he called and texted the psychologist’s husband hundreds of times over a three-year period.

The man messaged the victim while in and out of custody, boasting about his sexual relationship with the man’s wife and sending him nude photos of her.

“His treating psychologist, who had been involved in providing assessments to the courts for a number of years, also had an intimate relationship with him,” Crown attorney Katie Dojack told provincial court Judge Murray Thompson at the start of a lengthy argument earlier this year. month, detailing the man’s actions and criminal past.

“Say that again,” Thompson replied, surprised by the unexpected revelation.

“His treating psychologist of a few years, who was also involved in providing assessments to the court, also had an intimate relationship with him.”–Crown attorney Katie Dojack

Neither the perpetrator nor his former psychologist can be named because this could identify his victim, whose identity is protected under a court-imposed publication ban.

The psychologist has since been fired and is now in court on charges of breach of trust by a government official and attempting to obstruct justice.

The court heard the perpetrator visited the psychologist regularly and within a few months ‘feelings of affection began to be discussed’.

“He tells her he loves her, he kisses her and she ultimately returns his feelings,” Dojack said.

Three months later the two had sex for the first time.

The victim learned about his wife’s relationship with the perpetrator a month before the perpetrator sent the man the first of what would be hundreds of phone and text messages over three years.

The man obtained a protection order against the perpetrator, after which all communication stopped.

“After learning about the affair… my wife made repeated attempts to end the affair, but (the perpetrator) continued to coerce and blackmail my wife into continuing the affair,” the man alleged in a written statement provided to the court provided.

“I am constantly afraid that (the perpetrator) will show up at my house one day,” the man wrote. “His actions targeted my work and have caused me to miss time at work and make embarrassing and unnecessary disclosures to my employer out of fear of what he will do.

“(The perpetrator) has intimate images of my wife, he has already crossed the line by distributing them to me and has threatened to upload them to the internet.”

“Her opinion was reportedly that he was doing extremely well.”–Crown attorney Katie Dojack

The court heard this month that the psychologist helped prepare a risk assessment for the Criminal Code Review Board, supporting “more liberalized conditions” for the offender, including extended passes allowing him to stay in the community.

“Her opinion was reportedly that he was doing extremely well,” Dojack said.

The review board refused to allow the offender to live independently in the community, but did agree to his release on day tickets, with the approval of his treatment team. The court heard the psychologist accompanied the man on his subsequent day passes.

“It could be characterized as very unusual for a psychologist to be the staff member providing such supervision,” Dojack said.

The following month, the perpetrator sent the victim a photo of the woman kissing him on the head. In another message, he told the victim he had “intimate content” of his wife and threatened to upload it to a pornographic website.

The relationship apparently soured when the perpetrator sent the woman a series of threatening text messages.

“You have pierced me so that I cannot love anyone else, and I will destroy you,” the man wrote. “You’re my girl or my enemy. I’m not a good person, but you knew that. You were playing with me… You might as well turn yourself in to save your own life.”

“You’re my girl or my enemy. I’m not a good person, but you knew that.”–Text from offender

The perpetrator was given extended day passes that allowed him to live in the community under the care of a new doctor when he disclosed his intimate relationship with the psychologist. A short time later she was fired.

The woman made a police statement the following November confirming the sexual relationship.

“She said she reciprocated feelings for a while, but when she tried to end it, there was an escalation in (the perpetrator’s) contact with her husband,” Dojack said.

The perpetrator was arrested early this year and told police he began contacting the woman’s husband after she told him he was “not treating her well.”

“The relationship was clearly toxic, dysfunctional and perhaps criminal.”– Lawyer Saheel Zaman

Dojack and attorney Saheel Zaman jointly recommended probation for the perpetrator, arguing that he has adapted well to life in the community and has not reoffended.

“What happened was a consensual sexual relationship (with) someone who is in a position of trust, who is in a position of power, who can dictate periods of leave and who has exploited those periods of leave for sex with my client,” Zaman said.

“The relationship was clearly toxic, dysfunctional and perhaps criminal,” he said. The circumstances “are almost too difficult to believe. We are all scratching our heads as to how this could have come to this.”

Thompson said he was surprised to hear there was a joint recommendation in the “extremely unusual” case, but that the agreed probation period was within acceptable limits.

Although the perpetrator was not blameless, “the onus is on (the psychologist) to be the adult in the room,” Thompson said.

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Zane Pritchard
Court reporter

Dean Pritchard is a court reporter for the Free press. He has been involved in the legal system since 1999 and works for the Brandon Sun And Winnipeg Sun before you join the Free press in 2019. Read more about Dean.

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