Derek Neary
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 11/98) - Justice John Vertes ruled that Irvin George McPherson of Fort Simpson is to be considered a dangerous offender and imposed an indeterminate sentence in prison.

The matter was before the Supreme Court in Yellowknife last Thursday.

"This does not necessarily mean that he will spend the rest of his life in prison... his condition will be periodically reviewed by the National Parole Board to determine his suitability for parole," Vertes wrote in his reasons for judgment.

McPherson, 37, who had been in remand for the past 33 months, was found guilty of a 1995 break-and-enter and sexual assault in 1997. That offence lead the counsel for the Attorney General of Canada to seek the dangerous offender application.

McPherson had also been convicted of a sexual assault by a Fort Simpson jury in October, 1991. In that incident, he had similarly forced himself on a woman who was sleeping. He was sentenced to four years in jail.

Prior to the sexual assaults, McPherson had 61 offenses on his criminal record, mostly of a "relatively minor" nature, Vertes noted.

However, during the dangerous offender hearing in Fort Simpson several other women came forward to testify that McPherson had also sexually assaulted them but they had never pressed charges. McPherson never took the stand in his own defence during the hearing, nor did he cross-examine the complainants.

"He has shown a pattern of general aggressive behaviour, behaviour that is both impulsive and unrestrained by external or internal control mechanisms. He has also shown a pattern of specifically sexual aggressive behaviour... Those actions have been violent, physically and sexually, and extremely harmful," wrote Vertes.

"If one cannot safely say that in a particular time span the offender will be cured, then one should not gamble with the public's safety."

Both psychiatrists who testified, Dr. Philip Klassen and Dr. Robert Dickey, agreed that McPherson fits the criteria of a psychopath and characterized him as being a "high risk" to re-offend, Vertes noted.

As well, he made reference to McPherson's troubled childhood. He had an extensive criminal record as a youth and was sent for a psychiatric assessment after having consumed alcohol and solvents at the age of 11. At that time, he had been identified as "having severe personality problems." Long-term therapeutic treatment was recommended but Vertes noted that there was no record of the offender having ever received such treatment.

Vertes has further recommended that McPherson be considered for any penitentiary programs "specifically designed for native offenders," to aid in his rehabilitation.

There have been fewer than half a dozen dangerous offender designations in the North.