The Parole Board of Canada has recommended laying new charges against a convicted sex offender living in Kingston, saying he is too high-risk to be living in society.
Lucas Petrini, a 29-year-old federal offender, was convicted of kidnapping a boy on his way to school in Brampton in 2008, threatening the child with a knife and sexually assaulting him for seven hours before he escaped.
After serving a decade in prison, Petrini was released in Kingston in November 2018 with a long-term supervision order that carried several conditions meant to restrict his movement within society for 10 years.
When he was initially released, Petrini was barred from interacting with his victim or his family and children. He was also banned from using drugs or alcohol and instructed to avoid drinking establishments, follow a treatment plan and participate in psychological counselling and psychiatric assessments.
Since his release at the end of 2018, Petrini has been taken back into custody for potential breaches of his conditions several times, twice due to alleged drug use and once because the board says he was in possession of a phone that had internet access after additional conditions barred him from accessing the internet.
The screen saver on that phone was a photo of a young boy in nothing but pyjama bottoms, and there were also two sexualized cartoon images on the device, according to parole board documents.
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Now, according to Parole Board of Canada documents released on Thursday, Petrini has breached his conditions again, and the board is suggesting he be removed from society.
“When the board considers your assessed risk, lack of any meaningful progress, extremely poor attitude towards supervision and your very deliberate decision to continue to breach the conditions imposed, it finds that you pose a substantial risk to society,” the parole board decision reads.
According to the parole board documents, Petrini was released back into society on Sept. 5, 2019 following an alleged breach of conditions. On Sept. 21, the documents say he was asked to provide a urine sample for drug testing, and several days later, Petrini reportedly admitted to “almost daily use of crystal methamphetamine.”
The parole board said Petrini was immediately taken back into custody.
His room was then searched, and the parole board said an iPod that had Wi-Fi access was found hidden in his room.
The parole board noted that upon sentencing, Petrini was diagnosed with a laundry list of disorders, including pedophilia, hebephilia (an attraction to adolescents), paraphilic coercive disorder (the urge to have coercive sex with non-consenting persons), alcohol dependence, psychoactive substance dependence, social phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, attention deficit disorder, anti-social personality disorder and possible sexual sadism.
The board points to Petrini’s upbringing as a mitigating factor, calling it “chaotic” and saying he witnessed his father abusing his family members and also sexually abusing an unidentified person.
The documents also note Petrini’s behavioural disorders began from an early age. Petrini was 18 when he committed the crime that landed him in jail for 10 years.
Despite these factors, the board was resolute in its decision to recommend Petrini be charged with breaching his conditions. The board also said it was no longer safe for the offender to live in society.
“Your recent breach of your special conditions is not inadvertent but, rather, very deliberate and well-considered. As such, the board concludes that your risk can no longer be safely managed in the community,” the decision reads.
Kingston police have confirmed that Petrini is in custody but would not comment on whether any charges have been laid, only saying an investigation into Petrini is currently underway.
Nevertheless, the parole board documents released on Thursday stated police had confirmed they would be laying charges against Petrini due to alleged breach of his conditions.
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