Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify how many years Alan Derosiers was deported from Canada.
A high-risk sex offender who stalked a woman in Nova Scotia has been banished from Canada for five years.
Alan Derosiers, a dual American-Canadian citizen accused of stalking a woman in the Yarmouth area on two separate occasions, appeared in Shelburne Provincial Court on Wednesday, where he pleaded guilty to criminal harassment.
Judge Jim Burrill noted that deporting someone to another country was “extremely unusual.”
He said he has been unable to find a similar case where a Canadian citizen has been deported.
“While it is important to protect the public from the commission of crimes, it is also important as a Canadian court not to be perceived as imposing our law-breaking members of the public on another segment of society or another country to take care and deal with their criminal behavior,” Burrill said.
Story continues below the ad
Read more: Police warn of sex offender living in NS after 23-year sentence in US
Read more
-
Police warn of sex offender living in NS after 23-year sentence in US
Desrosiers was sentenced to three years of probation, during which he must leave Canada and cannot return without the court’s permission. He was also placed on a two-year peace bond, which will take effect at the end of the three-year probationary period, further restricting him from re-entering the country.
Desrosiers has previously been convicted of sex crimes in the United States.
He served a 23-year sentence in 2019 for crimes including kidnapping, rape, assault and battery. His victims are in Massachusetts and all are women between the ages of 16 and 47.
On Dec. 14, RCMP issued a release warning that Desrosiers had been living in Yarmouth County since August.
Two days later, police announced that he was charged with felony harassment after two stalking incidents in October and December.
Desrosiers was charged with criminal harassment in December. Nova Scotia RCMP
Burrill noted, “While the defendant may be described as a serial rapist from the United States … the only crime he has committed in Canada is the crime of which I am sentencing him today.”
Popular
-
XBB.1.5. in Canada: Experts urge ‘aggressive’ testing to detect emerging variants of COVID
-
Canadians in Mexico have been advised to shelter in place as cartel violence erupts in the streets
Popular
-
Canadians in Mexico have been advised to shelter in place as cartel violence erupts in the streets
-
Travelers from B.C. are lurking as violence flares in the Mexican state of Sinaloa
Story continues below the ad
The Crown and Derosier’s lawyer made a joint recommendation on the terms of the sentence, with Derosier’s lawyer saying he has no ties to Canada other than it’s where his mother was born.
Desrosiers himself told the judge that he had no intention of returning to Canada.
“I have spoken to a lawyer and I would like to return to the United States,” the defendant said.
He said he did not have a US address but had an “arrangement” with a shelter in Boston, Massachusetts.
Read more: NS police say high-risk sex offender charged with stalking woman
Burrill accepted the general recommendation, noting that Desrosiers has lived most of his 64 years in the U.S. and would have better access to support and rehabilitation there.
“In this case, I am now convinced that a return to the United States offers the best hope of any kind of rehabilitation,” the judge said, adding that Desrosiers was also followed by corrections in the States and was subject to sex offender reporting provisions in that jurisdiction.
“That hope of rehabilitation also offers some protection to the citizens of Canada, because if there is any chance that he will come back, there is hope that he will come back rehabilitated and less of a danger than he is today.”
Story continues below the ad
As part of Derosier’s terms, he cannot:
- Return to Canada during the term of the order, unless authorized by the court;
- Apply for a Canadian passport;
- Have contact with women unless they are peacekeepers or facilitating travel.
He must also inform the court of any changes in name or address.
RCMP said just after 5:00 p.m. Thursday that Desrosiers had left Canada.
2:14 Supreme Court rules parts of sex offender registry unconstitutional
Previous video Next video
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Add Comment