'Violent sexual offender' faces new charges
Man subject of rare alert in Yellowknife last year arrested in Pangnirtung
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Friday, June 10, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A man Yellowknife RCMP previously warned the public about and called a "violent sexual offender" now faces 10 new charges, including sexual assault, in Pangnirtung, Nunavut.
Jonah Keyuajuk was subject of the rare public warning that said he poses "a risk of significant harm to the public" in August of last year when he was being released at the end of a jail sentence. Police applied to have a judge place strict conditions on his freedom after release.
Within a day of being released here last summer, he was charged with and later convicted of violating his conditions.
He was sentenced in December to eight months in jail. It's not clear when or where he was released.
The man with scorpion tattoos on his neck was arrested again May 22, this time in his hometown of Pangnirtung, according to Nunavut RCMP. Keyuajuk is facing charges that include sexual interference and forcible confinement.
Sexual interference is when a person touches directly or indirectly a person under 16 in a sexual manner. Nunavut RCMP spokesperson Const. Lurene Dillon did not answer a question about whether RCMP warned residents in Pangnirtung about Keyuajuk.
"Keyuajuk is currently in custody and awaiting his next court date," Dillon stated in an e-mail. "His file, including his release from Yellowknife and subsequently re-offending in Nunavut, is currently under review by RCMP divisional senior management. We cannot comment any further on this file at this time."
An e-mailed question to Yellowknife RCMP about whether Mounties here warned police in Nunavut about Keyuajuk was not answered.
Keyuajuk returns to court June 14 in Iqaluit. He has numerous violent and sex-related crimes on his record. A 2014 psychological assessment diagnosed him as a psychopath. A Parole Board of Canada report about Keyuajuk from 2014 states the man had denied committing crimes and claimed he was wrongfully convicted.
The report states during an interview with a psychologist he denied he required treatment for sexual offences, that he has an anger problem and he minimized his offences against women.
