N.S. judge banishes dual U.S.-Canadian citizen from country for 2 years | 24CA News
A provincial courtroom decide in Shelburne, N.S., has banished a twin U.S.-Canadian citizen from the nation for 2 years, in what he described as an “extremely extraordinary” sentencing.
Allen Desrosiers, 64, was charged with two counts of prison harassment final month after he was accused of stalking a 25-year-old girl in Yarmouth on two events, in October and December respectively.
The RCMP additionally issued a public notification in December describing Desrosiers as a high-risk offender.
More than twenty years in the past, he was convicted of sexual offences within the United States that included kidnapping, aggravated rape, rape, assault with intent to rape, and assault and battery, in response to a police news launch on the time.
He accomplished a 23-year sentence within the U.S. for the crimes, which had been dedicated in Massachusetts.
On Wednesday, each the Crown and Desrosiers’s lawyer advisable the sentencing circumstances to Judge Jim Burrill. Desrosiers has spent the vast majority of his life within the United States and solely arrived in Nova Scotia in August 2022.
“I am now convinced a return to the U.S. offers the best hope of any type of rehabilitation because that’s where he has resided for most of his 64 years. It’s where any supports he has will be and have been,” Burrill mentioned.
“And he has been followed by corrections there, and I’m told is subject to some reporting provisions as a sex offender in that jurisdiction as well. And that hope for rehabilitation offers some protection for the citizens of Canada as well.”
No intentions of returning to Canada
Desrosiers informed the decide if he was allowed to return to the U.S., he would not come again to Canada.
“I talked to a lawyer and it would be my wish to return to the United States. I don’t have any intention of coming back to Canada,” he mentioned.
Burrill requested Desrosiers if he had an handle within the U.S. Desrosiers mentioned he did not however he had “an arrangement already in place” with a shelter in Boston.
The decide described the sentence as “extremely extraordinary” as a result of it “is primarily designed to banish an individual from a locale.” He mentioned he is by no means seen a case prefer it.
“In this case, the sentence is designed to banish a Canadian citizen from Canada,” Burrill mentioned. “A review of the case law has not resulted in me finding one case across this country such has been done or acknowledged to have been done to a Canadian citizen.”
Desrosiers’s twin citizenship is what makes the circumstances distinctive, Burrill mentioned. His solely connection to Nova Scotia is thru his mom and he had solely just lately arrived within the province, the decide famous.
Concerns about ‘limiting the best of return’
Burrill mentioned he had reservations about extinguishing Desrosiers’s rights as a Canadian citizen and in regards to the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which features a proper of return to 1’s nation.
“When we are limiting that right of return, we have to be very careful and only do it in exceptional circumstances where it’s appropriate and where the accused agrees to it, whether he or she is aware of the rights they are giving up,” he mentioned.
Under the circumstances of his sentence, Desrosiers can solely return to Canada in the course of the time period of the order if he obtains the permission of the courtroom. He cannot apply for a Canadian passport. He cannot have contact with females until they’re peace officers or are serving to to facilitate journey. And he should hold the courtroom knowledgeable of any title or handle adjustments.
