One of the Yukon’s most infamous sexual predators wants to return home.
Marcellus Jacob was sentenced to prison four and a half years ago for repeatedly raping and sodomizing a Whitehorse woman at knifepoint in her downtown home.
On October 28, he faces statutory release after serving two-thirds of his seven-year sentence, said National Parole Board acting regional director Evelyn Blair.
But because he still presents an “undue risk to society,” Jacob will spend the remainder of his sentence in a halfway house, according to a National Parole Board decision last week.
It has not determined where he will go, said Blair.
“You are hoping to return to the area where you not only committed the index offence but where your victim resides,” states the six-page parole board report.
“But given that you present a high-risk for sexual re-offending, the community residential facilities in the area have declined to give you accommodation, as have those polled in Alberta.”
In May, Whitehorse’s Adult Rehabilitation Centre formed a community advisory council to review Jacob’s return.
It decided it wasn’t in the community’s best interests, or Jacob’s, to have him return to Whitehorse based on past offences and progress to date, said its executive director Robert Sessford.
“(Since then) the Yukon ARC has not been approached; we haven’t received any files, or communication or requests from the parole board,” said Sessford Tuesday.
Every community rehabilitation facility in the country has the right to refuse occupants, he added.
“In the Yukon we deal with lots of people, including sexual offenders,” said Sessford, who would not rule out the possibility of taking Jacob in the future.
The facility, which holds 11 territorial offenders and two federal offenders, is usually full, he added.
The federal Privacy Act does not allow Corrections Canada to tell the public where Jacob is sent once a decision is made, said its communications officer Dennis Finley.
“But we do notify the police agencies,” he added.
“And it’s up to them to notify the public, if they think it’s necessary.”
“When a high-risk sex offender is coming to the community, the parole board advises the RCMP and we help to monitor the offender,” said Yukon RCMP spokesperson Brigitte Parker.
There is also a committee that meets through the Justice department to decide if it’s necessary to notify the public, said Parker.
If that committee decides it is necessary then it’s up to the commanding officer to make the final call, she said.
“And, if the commanding officer agrees, we issue mug shots, a description of the offender and all the conditions surrounding his release,” said Parker.
Last week, two members of the National Parole Board met to draft Jacob’s conditions of release.
The conditions are that he receive day parole, resides at a community-based residential facility, abstains from intoxicants, has no contact with children under the age of 19 without the written permission of his parole officer and reports any relationships with women to his parole officer.
He must have no contact with the victim or her family and must follow psychological counsel.
When making its decision, the board considered several factors.
“At the age of 21, you broke into a woman’s home and over a prolonged period of time, sexually assaulted her in a brutal and sadistic fashion,” states the report.
The victim was repeatedly threatened, cut with a knife, raped, sodomized, raped with household objects, bound with tape and “subjected to numerous indignities designed to humiliate and terrorize her,” the report adds.
“In spite of the lack of prior convictions for violence and/or sexually related offences … you have a long and troubling history of sexually deviant behaviour.”
This deviant behaviour has been directed at young children, adult females and male peers, states the report.
As a young child, Jacob experienced frequent, uncontrollable rages and has a history of setting fires, and of cruelty to animals and young children, including one instance where he tried to strangle a young child, the report states.
In his early teens he threatened to sexually offend against younger female children and female staff at the group home where he lived, states the report.
Jacob also attempted to sexually assault a young girl who was placed in his foster home, it states.
“There, you displayed aggressive behaviour numerous times and where found with knives and sharp implements in your room.”
Jacob’s institutional behaviour has also been described as problematic.
“There are a number of instances documented in which you became verbally abusive towards staff over relatively minor issues,” states the report.
Routine assessments determined Jacob is at a high risk to re-offend, according to the report.
A psychological assessment found Jacob displays mixed personality disorder with anti-social borderline and psychopathic features.
“Actuarial measures assess you as a high risk to re-offend generally and violently and a moderate to high risk to re-offend sexually,” states the report.
“A more recent psychological examination drew the same conclusion about your risk to re-offend.”
Jacob has acknowledged that residency in a halfway house is necessary, and doesn’t feel ready to be released into society without that support and structure, states the report.
The report also listed a number of programs Jacob completed during his sentence, including Society of Aboriginal Addictions Recovery, Aboriginal Moderate Intensity Sex Offender Treatment and Anger and Emotions Management.
“Program reports suggest you have gained significant awareness of your risk factors but, given your continued use of THC and your recent suspension from the Sex Offender Maintenance Program, your internalization of programming and motivation is suspect,” states the report.
The key stress factors that could lead Jacob to violence are substance abuse, anger and frustration, depression, associating with negative peers and the emotional upheaval that could be created by the loss of a loved one, according to the report.
An audiotaped victim-impact statement was played for Jacob, detailing the pain, suffering and lasting emotional and physical trauma his actions had on the victim.
And Jacob expressed remorse for his crime, states the report.
Jacob’s full sentence ends February 26th, 2009.