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Correctional Service Canada has declined to explain why it didn’t send a referral to the Parole Board of Canada to detain Jason Paul Thorn past his statutory release date.
Thorn was released July 27 to live at a residential facility in Regina’s Heritage neighbourhood under a number of conditions. The Regina Police Service, as it has every time Thorn is released, sent out a notice to the public to warn them that he’s a high risk to reoffend sexually.
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Over the past 28 years, Thorn has been in and out of prison for breaching his release conditions — often for using drugs and alcohol, but he’s also been convicted of robbery and another time of assault for chasing two men around with a knife.
The originating incident for this string of involvement with the legal system was in 1997, when Thorn sexually assaulted an 11-year-old girl and assaulted a woman. He’s also been convicted of sexually assaulting a boy under two years of age, and has admitted to other sexual assaults for which he wasn’t charged. He is subject to a long-term supervision order.
Parole documents show Thorn has been assessed as a high risk to reoffend in a violent fashion with not much interest in changing his behaviour.
It hasn’t always been the case, but this time, Thorn was granted statutory release, which is the mandatory release of an offender after they’ve served two-thirds of their sentence. They then serve the rest of their sentence in the community.
The release is legislated, and an offender can only be detained for their whole sentence if it’s assessed there’s a likelihood, before the end of their sentence, they would cause death or serious harm to another person, commit a serious drug offence, or commit a sexual offence involving a child.
The likelihood of these is assessed by deciding whether there’s a consistent pattern of such crimes, medical, psychiatric or psychological evidence of such, reliable information about plans to do so, and the availability of supervising programs that would protect the public.
The Parole Board of Canada makes decisions about release conditions, but it’s only Correctional Service Canada which could make a referral to have someone detained, which is then considered by the board.
In Thorn’s case, Correctional Service Canada did not make that referral. The federal government agency declined to explain why that decision was made, saying privacy stops it from commenting on the specifics of an offender’s case.
In a statement, Correctional Service Canada said a detention referral is governed by strict criteria and doesn’t apply in every situation.
“When an offender does not meet the statutory criteria — even if they present risk factors — the risk must be managed through the supervision and control mechanisms established for that purpose,” read the statement.
Correctional Service Canada said the safety and security of institutions and communities are its highest priorities, and before any release, a comprehensive assessment and release-planning process is undertaken.
