SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A man who once posed as a Santa Claus in Hay River and volunteered at a school may be receiving one of the most serious sentences in Canadian law if the Crown's application to have him designated a dangerous offender goes ahead.

If John Murray Melanson, a former Hay River resident, is designated a dangerous offender, he could be going to jail indefinitely. The sentence is one of the most serious in the Canadian justice system. - NNSL file photo

"He could be given an indeterminate sentence," said Crown prosecutor Shannon Smallwood after John Murray Melanson pleaded guilty to five offences on Feb. 8 in Supreme Court in Yellowknife. An indeterminate sentence means he could be jailed indefinitely, or until he is deemed no longer a risk to re-offend.

Melanson, known to many as "Fester," pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault and three counts of failure to comply with probation orders, stemming from incidents involving two boys in Hay River in the fall of 2006.

Melanson, in his 40s, has a criminal record dating back to 1983. He has 56 convictions, eight of which are sexual in nature. The crimes leading to his convictions happened in eight different cities in Canada, including Halifax, Montreal, Winnipeg and Vancouver.

Justice John Vertes did not proceed with sentencing on Monday as Smallwood filed an application to determine if Melanson poses a risk to re-offend. Melanson will remain in custody while undergoing a 60-day psychiatric assessment in Ontario. The court-ordered assessment is the first step in the lengthy process of designating someone a dangerous offender. Smallwood has previously said the whole process can take up to a year.

The Crown must convince the judge that the offender has shown a pattern of behaviour that is dangerous to the public and that the offender is a risk to re-offend.

In 2007, following Melanson's arrest, Hay River resident Terry Rideout organized a petition calling for the GNWT to make criminal record checks mandatory for all volunteer and GNWT positions.

The GNWT established an ad-hoc committee in November 2007 to look at this issue and its current policies. Nearly three years later, the government has not yet made a decision.