Monstrous Crimes Deserve Lengthy Prison Sentences; Trans Women in Male Prisons

"Ban biological men from women's prisons."

"This vile male monster charged with violently sexually assaulting a three-year-old girl wants to be  transferred to a women's prison."

"Lock him up."

Leader of the Official Parliamentary Opposition, Conservative Pierre Poilievre 

 

"This is a tragedy that has deeply impacted our community and our investigators."

"Detectives are working closely with the child’s family to ensure that this matter is fully investigated and carried through the judicial system."

"Public records show that the suspect was subject to a probation order at the time of the offence."

"While inside the residence, unbeknownst to the parents, their child was sexually assaulted."

 Niagara Regional Police Chief Bill Fordy

 

"[He] is currently being held in segregation at the Niagara Detention Centre and has requested a transfer to the Vanier Centre for Women if he doesn't get bail under the guise he is 'transgender'."

Toronto Crime Watch X account 

 

"[Correctional Service Canada] has a duty to accommodate based on gender identity or expression, regardless of the person's anatomy [i.e. sex], or the gender marker on identification documents."

"[Newly sentenced prisoners in Canada are all] provided with an opportunity to indicate if they have a preferred institution type [men's or women's]."

Correctional Service Canada  

Daniel Senecal was arrested on Aug. 31, as pictured here, and charged with sexual assault of a person under age 16. (Submitted by Koreen Perry)

 

Daniel Senecal of Welland, Ontario was arrested and charged with (allegedly) breaking into a home on August 31. He was known to the adults of the household on a casual basis, and he had knowledge of their three-year-old little girl through a family connection that had befriended the man. After he broke into the house at around 10:00 p.m. while the entire family was asleep he assaulted the child violently, seriously injuring her. It was not until the following morning that the child in her critical condition was discovered by her parents. She was immediately hospitalized.

 

The parents, fast asleep, had been unaware of the attack's occurrence, a situation that was remedied when they discovered their seriously injured child in the morning, recounted the Niagara Regional Police Service in a statement. In 2021, the same Senecal had been sentenced for a similar sexual attack against a young boy in the same neighbourhood. For that crime, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison. A sentence that was cut short when he was released after a year of that 18-month sentence.

 

Reports have now surfaced that the man sought transfer to a women's penal facility as is often the case when a man decides to declare himself transgendered from male to female -- because that gender more closely aligns with how they mentally view themselves -- biological birth identification aside. On Wednesday Senecal attended a bail hearing virtually, but evidently the "matter was put over until October 15 to give him more time to consult with a lawyer".  

 

About 200 people gathered outside the courthouse to call for change to the criminal justice system. (Thomas Daigle/CBC)

 

While court documents identify Senecal as male, a Facebook page reflects the pronouns 'she/her', along with a transgender flag. The stated policy of the Correctional Service of Canada dating from 2017 is to transfer offenders to women's facilities in reflection of self-reported gender identity. Prior to that date, transgender prisoner transfers could only be  considered after the offender completed a medically approved course of gender transition treatments, inclusive of genital surgeries.

 

Staff at all Canadian prisons receive a policy bulletin informing them that it is incumbent on their professional duties in accord with Canadian law, to accommodate the stated gender identity of incarcerated prisoners. Prisoners are able to alter their stated designation and request "a voluntary transfer to a men's or a women's institution" at any time during their prison sentence. The Correctional Service is prepared to hear each and every gender accommodation request "without delay". 

 

Denial of a gender-related accommodation is automatically subject to review by a superior; assistant warden or parole supervisor. One third of transgender women in prison -- according to a survey of transgender inmates in Canadian prisons -- had succeeded in obtaining  transfers to women's facilities, while it was virtually nonexistent for transgender men to live in a men's facility. The study found that transgender offenders incarcerated for sexual offences saw "almost all" (81.8 percent) to be transwomen.

 

That same study revealed 27 transwomen offenders jailed for sexual offences of whom over 90 percent committed the  crime while living as their biological sex. At least half of these incarcerants had committed crimes against children, while the greater majority were in prison for the crime of sexually assaulting women. A study published in the last year identified 155 transgender offenders in Canadian prisons, 53 percent of whom were transgender women. 

 

A large protest took place outside the St.Catharines courthouse on Wednesday. This was where Senecal was scheduled for a remote attendance meeting. Under the title "protest for harder sentences against violent crimes", an online event page noted that "There needs to be changes. Let's be a voice for the victims and their families."

 

Welland Mayor Frank Campion accused sexual predators and called for tougher sentencing for sex crimes, and for a public registry of the homes of convicted sex criminals. "When you get sentenced, you stay there fully, and then when you get out everybody knows where you are." He addressed the crowd with a bullhorn, calling for bail to be denied to accused sexual predators, for tougher sentences for sex crimes and for a public registry of the homes of convicted sex criminals.  

 

Demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse as Senecal attended a bail hearing Wednesday. (CBC)