It has all the ingredients of a made-for-TV court drama:
A former inmate and mental-health patient 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 harassment” that erupted after the two had a sexual affair.
While a court-ordered ban prevents the publication of any details that would identify those involved, the case exposed a serious breach in professional standards as part of the criminal review process.
The court record shows the man has been sentenced to three years of probation after pleading guilty to one count of criminal harassment; he called and texted the psychologist’s husband hundreds of times during a three-year period.
The man messaged the victim while in and out of custody, boasted about his sexual relationship with the man’s wife and sent him nude pictures of her.
“His treating psychologist for a few years, who was also involved in providing assessments to the courts, was also engaged in an intimate relationship with him,” Crown attorney Katie Dojack told provincial court Judge Murray Thompson near the start of a lengthy submission earlier this month, detailing the man’s actions and criminal history.
“Say that again,” Thompson replied, taken aback by the unexpected revelation.
“His treating psychologist for a few years, who was also involved in providing assessments to the courts, was also engaged in an intimate relationship with him.”–Crown attorney Katie Dojack
Neither the offender nor his former psychologist can be named, as it would identify his victim, whose identity is protected under terms of a court-ordered publication ban.
The psychologist has since been fired and is now before the court on charges of breach of trust by a public officer and attempting to obstruct justice.
Court heard the offender began seeing the psychologist regularly and in the space of a few months, “feelings of affection started being discussed.”
“He tells her he loves her, he kisses her and she ultimately reciprocates his feelings,” Dojack said.
The two had sex for the first time three months later.
The victim learned about his wife’s relationship with the offender a month before the offender sent the man the first of what would be hundreds of phone and text messages over three years.
The man secured a protection order against the offender, after which all communications ceased.
“After I found out about the affair… my wife made repeated attempts to end the affair, however, (the offender) continued to coerce and extort my wife into continuing the affair,” the man alleged in a written statement provided to court.
“I remain constantly fearful of (the offender) one day showing up at my residence,” the man wrote. “His actions have targeted my employment and resulted in me missing time from work and making embarrassing and unnecessary disclosures to my employer out of fear of what he will do.
“(The offender) possesses intimate images of my wife, he has already crossed the line by distributing them to me and made threats to upload them to the internet.”
“Her view, purportedly, was that he was doing extremely well.”–Crown attorney Katie Dojack
Court heard this month the psychologist helped prepare a risk assessment for the Criminal Code Review Board, supporting “more liberalized conditions” for the offender, including extended passes that allow him to reside in the community.
“Her view, purportedly, was that he was doing extremely well,” Dojack said.
The review board declined to allow the offender to live independently in the community, but did consent to his release on day passes, with the approval of his treatment team. Court heard the psychologist accompanied the man during his subsequent day passes.
“It could be characterized as very uncommon for a psychologist to be the staff member providing such supervision,” Dojack said.
The next month, the offender sent the victim a picture 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 had seemingly soured when the offender sent the woman a series of threatening text messages.
“You have seared me through, so that I can’t love anyone else, and I will destroy you,” the man wrote. “You are my girl or my enemy. I am not a well person, but you knew that. You played me… You might as well turn yourself in to save your own lives.”
“You are my girl or my enemy. I am not a well person, but you knew that.”–Text from offender
The offender was granted extended day passes allowing him to live in the community under the care of a new doctor when he disclosed his intimate relationship with the psychologist. She was fired a short time later.
The woman provided a police statement the following November in which she confirmed the sexual relationship.
“She said she reciprocated feelings for a time, but when she attempted to end it, there was an escalation in (the offender) contacting her husband,” Dojack said.
The offender was arrested early this year and told police he started contacting the woman’s husband after she told him he “was not treating her well.”
“The relationship was obviously toxic, it was dysfunctional, arguably it was criminal.”–Defence lawyer Saheel Zaman
Dojack and defence lawyer Saheel Zaman jointly recommended a probationary sentence for the offender, arguing he has adapted well to living in the community and has not reoffended.
“What happened was a consensual sexual relationship (with) somebody who is in a position of trust, who is in a position of power, who can dictate periods of leaves and who exploited those leaves for the purposes of sex with my client,” Zaman said.
“The relationship was obviously toxic, it was dysfunctional, arguably it was criminal,” he said. The circumstances “are almost too hard to believe. We are all just scratching our heads how this got to this point.”
Thompson said he was surprised to hear there was a joint recommendation in the “exceptionally unusual” case, but agreed probation fell in the acceptable range of dispositions.
While the offender was not blameless, “the onus is on (the psychologist) to be the adult in the room,” Thompson said.
dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter
Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.
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