Rapist declared dangerous offender
Judge declares Ottawa man dangerous offender after long history of violence
Jacques (Porkchop) Rouschop, Ottawa rapist and career thief, has spent most of his adult life inside the Ottawa jail, and is now awaiting transfer to a federal prison for the first time after a judge declared him a dangerous offender on Friday for heinous crimes spanning four decades.
Rouschop, 49, has more than 40 convictions — sex crimes against minors, the choke-andrape of Vanier sex-trade workers and multiple violent assaults — including choking and sexually assaulting fellow inmates at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre.
He’s also the prime suspect in the unsolved 2013 slaying of Vanier sex-trade worker Amy Paul, whose body was found in a farm field. (Ottawa police executed search warrants at Rouschop’s mother’s home, where he lived at the time, and his truck, but he has not been charged in the killing.)
The successful application by assistant Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham follows a lengthy hearing where the prosecutor proved that Rouschop met all the requirements for the high-risk designation.
Cunningham is the same prosecutor who secured 2016 convictions against Rouschop in the rapes of two Vanier sex-trade workers. The rape-and-choking trial lasted three weeks and Rouschop mounted a micropenis defence, saying his one-inch penis was too small for him to have committed the vicious sex crimes.
The jury was shown photographs of his penis and heard from the nurse who volunteered to measure it after medical staff at the Ottawa jail refused.
Rouschop took the stand in his defence and denied the crimes. He also stood up in the stand and offered to drop his pants to prove his innocence, but Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Smith refused to allow it.
His defence lawyer, Natasha Calvinho, had presented Rouschop as an innocent man who was the target of a “witch hunt” by overzealous homicide detectives who were pursuing him in the unsolved slaying of Amy Paul.
But on Friday, Rouschop finally admitted the truth at his dangerous-offender hearing, saying he had lied at his trial and did in fact choke and rape the women.
He said it was time to “come clean” and tell the truth. He also told court that he wanted to seek treatment and volunteered to take medication that reduces his violent sex drive.
A forensic psychiatrist told the hearing that Rouschop is a high risk to commit sexual violence in the future.
A psychopathy checklist test concluded that Rouschop meets the definition of a psychopath. In fact, his high score was categorized as “severe psychopathy.”
The psychiatrist diagnosed Rouschop with anti-personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder, and said he met the definition of a psychopath.
The court heard about vicious crimes dating back to the 1980s, including trying to strangle children, and convictions for sexual interference, and more recently his attacks on fellow inmates at the Ottawa jail.
Rouschop himself conceded that he met the criteria on the basis that a history of repeated violence showed a likelihood that he could kill or injure someone else, or inflict severe psychological damage.
Rouschop’s anti-social behaviour is driven by anger, impulse, thrill, a disregard for others, a need for immediate gratification and financial gain, the assessment noted.
“His narcissistic traits include a grandiose sense of self-importance, a sense of entitlement, and being personally exploitive,” the doctor wrote in her assessment. The psychiatrist also said there doesn’t appear to be an effective treatment to change people like Rouschop because of his high levels of psychopathy.
In his decision on Friday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert J.
Smith said that even if Rouschop’s motivation to change was sincere, he noted that the psychiatrist’s evidence was that it would likely not be successful for someone who scored as high as Rouschop did on the psychopathy test.
The dangerous-offender designation comes with an automatic indeterminate sentence, with no parole review for seven years, and then every two years after that. But because Rouschop has already spent more than six years of pre-sentence time in jail, he will be eligible for parole in around six months. Even his lawyer, Paul Lewandowski, said it’s unlikely he’ll get parole any time soon without getting the proper treatment first.
“Mr. Rouschop made great strides forward through the limited treatment programs available in the provincial system. He is currently on medication that reduces his sex drive and impulses. He has recently demonstrated profound insight into his demons, and a desire to be dedicated to a comprehensive treatment regime. He is obviously disappointed with today’s result and we will be reviewing the decision and examining all avenues for an appeal,” Lewandowski said.
The judge noted: “An indeterminate sentence is not a perpetual sentence, and if Mr. Rouschop receives proper treatment and demonstrates a sustained commitment to significant change over a lengthy period of time, it is possible that he may be released on a supervised plan of release in the future. Mr. Rouschop has spent over six years in jail in pre-sentence custody and will be eligible to apply for parole in the near future. Mr. Rouschop’s behaviour will continue to be monitored and he will be released from custody when it is determined that (he) no longer poses an undue risk to the safety of the community.” twitter.com/crimegarden gdimmock@postmedia.com