Sex offender at high risk of reoffending, psychiatrist says
EDMONTON A repeat sexual offender who kidnapped and assaulted an Edmonton woman who was out for a jog shortly after his latest release from prison poses a high risk to reoffend, a forensic psychiatrist told court on Wednesday.
Crown prosecutors are seeking to have Ashton Natomagan designated as a dangerous offender, which means he can be sentenced to prison indefinitely. The lifelong designation is reserved for people who a judge finds would pose a serious risk to public safety because of a pattern of persistently aggressive and repetitive offences, or an especially brutal crime.
Natomagan declined to participate in an interview with forensic psychiatrist Dr. Erin Will, and so her report filed with the court was based on a consolidation of previous assessments and records. From that information she was able to determine he is at high risk of reoffending, and that he demonstrates psychopathic personality features to a “high degree.” She wrote that the information she had available is consistent with a diagnosis of anti-social personality disorder.
Will began giving testimony on Tuesday, answering questions about her report that details Natomagan’s “chaotic” childhood, troubled youth and poor behaviour as an inmate, along with a detailed psychiatric, medical and criminal history.
In reviewing past assessments, Will noted that Natomagan once described his 2003 conviction for choking a 10-year-old girl until she passed out and then sexually assaulting her as “quite impulsive and opportunistic” and denied being attracted to children.
In April 2008, he was mistakenly released from jail in Saskatchewan because of a court recording error, and while walking down the street he assaulted and robbed an adult woman, and, 30 minutes later, physically and sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl, the report says.
After he was convicted, prosecutors sought to have him declared a dangerous offender. The judge in that case found that while he met the criteria, there was a reasonable possibility his risk to the community would eventually be controlled, and sentenced him to 61 months in custody and eight years on a long-term supervision order.
Within days of being released from custody in February 2015, he failed to return to his community residential facility and was unlawfully at large until August 2015 when he was arrested on charges related to an April 12, 2015, daylight attack on the Edmonton woman who was out for a jog. He was convicted of robbery, overcoming resistance to commit an offence, kidnapping and sexual assault with a weapon in connection to that case.
Will wrote that it does not seem that sexual impulse motivated the three sexual offences Natomagan has been convicted of committing.
“Rather, it seems Mr. Natomagan engaged in violent behaviour and concurrent with this behaviour became aroused and failed to control his sexual impulses,” she said.
Will wrote that there are a number of “discrepancies” in records of Natomagan’s psychiatric history, and she agreed with a doctor who found Natomagan had once been incorrectly diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Cross examination of Will is expected to continue on Thursday.