Testimony heard in Trevor Pritchard’s dangerous offender hearing in Lethbridge will help determine if he will spend an indefinite amount of time behind bars.
The 35-year-old has multiple previous convictions for sexually assaulting young girls.
His latest conviction dates back to January 2019 and the Crown is seeking a dangerous offender status, which means Pritchard could be behind bars for an unknown but significant amount of time.
On Tuesday, Justice Johnna Kubik ruled certain evidence the Crown presented earlier is admissible in the sentencing hearing, including handwritten pages found in Pritchard’s cell at the Lethbridge Correctional Centre in 2018 with sexually graphic content and a photo of a young female.
The court also heard from a parole officer from the Bowden Institution, where Pritchard is currently serving a sentence.
The man testified Pritchard was on a waiting list to participate in the High Intensity Sex Offender Program, which uses mostly group counselling that’s been cancelled due to COVID-19.
Pritchard is also taking part in the Employment Program, doing yard work.
The parole officer also testified that Pritchard’s statutory release date for the sentence he is already serving is in May 2021, but the institution has recommended to the Parole Board of Canada that he be detained beyond that date.
There is still more evidence to be presented by the Crown on Wednesday and again in December. Then it will be the defence’s turn to present their evidence.
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