West Island tattoo artist who sexually abused minors has parole request denied
A West Island tattoo artist who had sex with troubled minors inside his shop has been denied parole because he refuses to recognize what he did was criminal.
Rowan McKenzie, 49, was sentenced to a nine-month prison term in May after he reluctantly pleaded guilty to having sex with two girls who were 14 and 15 at the time.
The girls first visited the Pierrefonds parlour in 2013 to get tattoos without having their parents’ permission.
They returned a week later and performed oral sex on McKenzie while he was aware they were under 16, the age of consent in Canada. The girls returned separately and had sex with him again.
One of the girls told her brother what was going, and he contacted the police. The girls were unaware McKenzie was on the national sex-offender registry.
In 2007, he was convicted of having sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl inside a different parlour.
In February, when McKenzie pleaded guilty in the more recent case, he said: “I just know I’m pleading guilty to things I don’t agree with. That’s all I have to say.”
A decision by the provincial parole board — the Commission québécoise des libérations conditionnelles — says McKenzie “claims to have committed errors, not crimes.”
McKenzie denies having manipulated the girls.
However, this year, two of his victims told the Montreal Gazette he took advantage of them when he realized they were experiencing turmoil at home.
According to the parole board, McKenzie was turned down to take part in a specialized program to treat sexual delinquency because of his reluctance to admit what he did was a crime.
McKenzie was unable to take part in another program because it was available only in French and he is a unilingual anglophone.