Nunavut judge orders GN to provide sex offender counselling

Nunavut’s Chief Justice Robert Kilpatrick addressed the lack of sex offender counselling in the territory during a sentencing hearing at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit Dec. 2. (FILE PHOTO)

Nunavut’s chief justice is using one of his recent verdicts to force the Government of Nunavut to provide comprehensive sex offender counseling to convicts serving time in the territory.

“This is a critical need in this jurisdiction. We lead the country in our per capita rate of sexual violence and it is high time that the Government of Nunavut provides the remedial provisions necessary to address what amounts to a significant problem in this jurisdiction,” said Justice Robert Kilpatrick at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit Dec. 2, during the sentencing of sex offender Robert Laisa.

“This citizen must take and complete some form of addictions counseling and if the Government of Nunavut is not prepared to follow the court’s order in this respect, the probation office will be tasked to bring it back to court for review.”

Currently, the GN provides only limited counseling services in its correctional system, which leaves many inmates out of luck for local treatment in the territory.

Sex offender treatment is often available at federal institutions, but inmates only serve federal time if their sentence is two years in jail or longer.

But there are no federal penitentiaries in the territory.

Kilpatrick sentenced Laisa, who pleaded guilty to one count of sexual interference and one count of willful obstruction of a police officer, to 20 months in custody in accordance with a joint submission by the Crown and defense attorneys.

But Kilpatrick went out of his way to stipulate that Laisa’s probation requirement will be to seek both addictions and sexual offender counseling within Nunavut.

“You will take and complete addictions counseling for both drugs and alcohol… I’m not saying ‘as directed by the probation officer,’ I choose my words carefully,” Kilpatrick said to the court clerk, as he dictated his decision.

The phrase is commonly included in court orders to give some freedom to the probation officer to follow through.

If the officer is unable to secure counseling for an inmate, as directed by a judge, the court order can be dropped at the officer’s discretion.

“We deal with a lot of cases where probation orders stipulate counseling is to be considered and directed at the discretion of the probation officer,” said Crown lawyer Leah Winters, who prosecuted Laisa.

“If those services just aren’t available, there’s not a lot that the probation officers can do with that condition.”

By removing the escape clause, Kilpatrick has thrown the ball into the GN’s court if Laisa is unable to find appropriate, local counseling during his probation.

Laisa’s sexual interference charge relates to an incident involving a 12-year-old girl.

The other charge was laid when Laisa gave a false identity to a police officer who was seeking Laisa under a warrant for not appearing in court.

During final submissions in court, it was revealed that Laisa suffers from both alcohol and drug addictions related, at least in part, to childhood traumas.

When he was seven years old, Laisa said his father committed suicide and he was the one to discover his father’s dead body, in a closet.

He also alleged that a caregiver sexually abused him after he was removed from his alcoholic mother’s custody and placed in foster care.

“Mr. Laisa now follows the path taken by his mother, he turns to alcohol and drugs in an effort to dull the pain,” said Kilpatrick, who noted it didn’t excuse him from the offence.

But the judge acknowledged, according to the Supreme Court of Canada, that Laisa’s trauma affected his “overall moral culpability.”

“By far the majority of these citizens coming before this court are struggling with dysfunctional behavior of many kinds. Many, if not most, suffer from addictions. They turn to alcohol and drugs as a means of coping. Many take their lives. The reality is, programming at the community level is extremely limited,” Kilpatrick stated.

What happens next is up to the probation officer.

If Laisa is unable to receive counseling within the territory during the duration of his sentence and probation, Kilpatrick’s sentence judgment might have to be reviewed in court.

If that happens, the lack of counseling in Nunavut will likely be addressed again.