Jody Matthew Burke, a mixed martial arts instructor who has identified as a woman since being convicted of extremely violent sexual assaults on his ex-wife, has the highest possible risk of violent recidivism on the Correctional Service of Canada rating scale. However, there is no tool to assess this risk if he undergoes a sex reassignment surgery as he says he intends to do.
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The 46-year-old, who has been jailed since 2017 after notably putting a knife to his wife’s throat while forcing her to have sex, announced his intention to become “Amber” at the very beginning of sentencing observations. He recently told his attorney that he had taken steps to undergo a sex reassignment surgery, according to psychologist Jean-Philippe Vaillancourt, the forensic psychologist hired by the defense to assess his risk of recidivism.
A policy formalized by Canada’s Correctional Service last May allows any inmate who conforms to the gender identity they identify with to be held in the penitentiary, regardless of their sex at birth. More than a dozen transgender inmates have been transferred under this policy to women’s prisons, which offer a less harsh prison environment.
Burke, who is on his third conviction for repeated dirty sexual assaults against ex-spouses, risks being declared a “dangerous offender,” a status that carries the harshest indefinite sentences in the Criminal Code.
suicide threats
The forensic expert’s report indicated that Burke threatened suicide “if he were sentenced to life in prison.” [et contraint] living his “trans” lifestyle surrounded by men in a prison environment [masculin] “.
The report finds that the sex offender does not have the characteristics of a psychopath, but does have the same characteristics as offenders who reoffend at rates of 76% and 87% five years after release % after 12 years. “97% of inmates have a lower risk score,” Vaillancourt said Friday during a hearing at the Montreal courthouse.
But Burke says he has more of the characteristics of a “long-term offender,” a status that would theoretically allow him a 10-year parole.
However, the risk assessment that led to this conclusion would be worthless once Burke completes his gender reassignment process because “the tools I’ve used are validated on males, not females,” the psychologist summarized in his report.
To our knowledge, there are no studies that conclusively document changes in recidivism rates (regardless of the type of recurrence) after sex reassignment.
Jean-Philippe Vaillancourt, forensic psychologist commissioned by the defense
“Hormone therapy could reduce the risk of sexual and violent relapses,” the document emphasizes.
A manipulation attempt?
Convicted for the first time as a minor, a ruling by Judge Jean-Jacques Gagné described Burke as a manipulative being, “self-centered,” who “lacks empathy” and who aspires to be “a victim of the police, of the… court” and his ex-wife. During a previous incarceration, he converted to Judaism in prison, which allowed him to participate in certain activities, but he never practiced that religion after his release, according to his ex-spouse.
The Crown asked psychologist Jean-Philippe Vaillancourt during his testimony whether the fact that Burke mentioned the possibility of committing suicide if he remained in a men’s prison “might constitute an attempt [le] manipulate”. “I don’t see it that way,” the psychologist replied, pointing out that it was “almost impossible” for a trans woman to live in a male prison. “I know there are possible adjustments, but I didn’t see it as an attempt to manipulate myself,” he insisted.
Judge Jean-Jacques Gagné assured that the sex offender’s possible “change of gender orientation” would have “no impact”. [sa] Decision “.
“I take note of what he [Jody Matthew Burke] told the court, the psychiatrist, the psychologist because it is part of the evidence, but this change will not affect my decision,” he said.