Serial sex offender allowed to drive
Parole condition eased for ex-cop
A former Montreal police officer who carried out a series of sex-related attacks on 10 victims while he worked for the police force has been granted permission to drive a car on his own. Some conditions continue to be imposed on his release from a penitentiary.
The Parole Board of Canada recently decided to remove the driving condition imposed on Benoît Guay after police found him in an idling car near a strip bar late one night in October 2016. The officers would later say that Guay, now 47, appeared to be either watching a house or waiting for someone. He had difficulty explaining what he was doing and failed to inform the officers that he was a convicted serial sex offender who had been declared a longterm offender.
The incident raised alarm bells because between May 2004 and July 2005 Guay stalked, beat and sexually assaulted women and teenagers. He would drive his car around at night looking for women or girls to attack while he was off duty. In 2007, he pleaded guilty to crimes committed against eight victims between the ages of 15 and 20. The attacks ranged in violence from uttering threats to raping a woman at knifepoint. Guay later told the parole board he had sexually assaulted two other women that the police did not know about. All of his crimes were committed between 10:15 p.m. and 1 a.m.
On June 12, 2007, he received a sentence that left him with a 64-month prison term that expired in 2012. He was also declared a longterm offender, which meant the parole board can impose conditions on his release until October 2022.
Following the incident in 2016, Guay was returned behind bars. He was released months later, but with new conditions, including a curfew and an order prohibiting him from driving on his own.
Last week, the parole board reviewed Guay’s conditions and decided to lift the condition related to him being behind the wheel of a vehicle. According to a written summary of the board’s decision, the curfew, which remains in place and requires he be home between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., addresses the risk Guay represents to public safety.
“The (parole) board has been advised that while therapeutic work remains to be done, you have consented to making significant efforts to diminish the risk of reoffending,” the summary said. Besides taking part in therapy to address what turned him into a serial sex offender, police and parole officers who made surprise visits to Guay’s home found he has respected his curfew.
Guay is also not allowed to be in the presence of minors unless they are accompanied by an adult informed of his criminal record and he is required to inform his parole officer of any relationship he has with a woman.