Kitchener ‘monster’ may never be freed
Pedophile declared dangerous offender: ‘He can’t hurt anybody else,’ says victim’s mother
KITCHENER — Pedophile Dan Magda, a self-described “monster,” could spend the rest of his life behind bars after being declared a dangerous offender on Thursday.
“It feels amazing,” Debbie Farrow, mother of one of Magda’s five victims, said moments after watching as he was taken away to prison. “He can’t hurt anybody else.”
The Kitchener man began sexually abusing three boys in 1994. Two were 10, one was six. Convicted in 2007, Magda was given a two-year sentence decried as too short by his victims’ families.
He was released for good behaviour after just eight months in jail. Magda went on to victimize two more boys, aged 10 and three. He was convicted again in 2012 and has remained in custody while awaiting sentencing.
“The evidence before me of the profound risk presented by this accused is overwhelming,” Justice Michael Epstein said in declaring him a dangerous offender.
Magda, 42, will serve an indeterminate sentence in a penitentiary.
Two forensic psychiatrists said at Magda’s dangerous offender hearing he poses a high risk of reoffending.
“It is beyond question that the accused has shown a failure to restrain his behaviour in the past,” Epstein said.
“There are now five victims of his sexual offending. Even after having been convicted and sentenced to a maximum reformatory term in 2007, the accused reoffended in a strikingly similar fashion while still on probation from the earlier convictions.”
Epstein noted there is a pattern to Magda’s crimes.
“The accused targeted only young, male victims who appeared for the most part to be in vulnerable family situations, often missing a father figure,” the judge said. “The accused befriended the parents and then the children.
“He earned the trust of the families of his victims and then committed his offences when that trust allowed him to spend time with the children privately.”
Magda took no sex-offender treatment in or out of jail.
“The accused’s history with respect to treatment is dismal,” Epstein said.
Now, Magda says he’s willing take medication to cut his sex drive.
“While one would hope that he is sincere in this regard, one cannot lose sight of the fact that he has an incredible history of deceit, manipulation, selective recollection and saying things that he thinks others wish to hear,” the judge said.
The judge noted a psychiatrist said same-sex pedophiles often offend into their 60s, 70s and even 80s.
Magda told the hearing he’s confident he will not reoffend.
“His credibility has been so thoroughly destroyed throughout this hearing that no weight can be placed on his statement,” the judge said. “Moreover, he acknowledged being most adept at lying and manipulating others.”
His parole officer was “taken in by his apparent sincerity and his manipulative efforts,” the judge said. Magda posed as a “model client” but was abusing drugs, not living where he was supposed to be living and was “grooming” a boy and ultimately reoffended.
“The evidence satisfies me it would be foolhardy to rely on the assertions of the accused whose history speaks for itself,” the judge said.
The dangerous offender designation is meant to protect Canadians from the most dangerous violent and sexual predators.
Schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo is a dangerous offender.
In 2014, Magda told a psychiatrist: “I’m a monster. I hate it. I’m the worst person in society.”
Magda faces a lifetime ban on attending parks or other areas where people under 16 may be. He can’t work or volunteer in a position of trust or authority with minors. He can’t use a computer to communicate with a minor.
Magda, bearded and wearing a hoodie and glasses, sat handcuffed in the prisoner’s box on Thursday, showing no emotion.
Magda sexually assaulted and choked Debbie Farrow’s young son in 2004.
The Kitchener woman said Magda was a neighbour who befriended her and her son. He saw him as a father figure.
“When this neighbour started paying a lot of attention to my son, I thought this guy’s wonderful, wow, look at the way he treats my son,” Farrow said in a previous interview. “Taking him here, taking him there, spending all this money. To me, it was a kind gesture.
“He groomed (her son) for years,” she said. “For years and nothing happened. And then all of a sudden, boom.”
Magda sexually assaulted and choked her son inside Magda’s home. Marks on his face and neck remained for a week. His bloodshot eyes took a month to clear up.
Farrow watched as Magda was taken away for his penitentiary sentence.
“He sure wasn’t smiling like he was before,” she said.
At previous court appearances, Magda was “sitting there so cocky,” she said. “He wasn’t like that this time.”