Jody Matthew Burke, a mixed martial arts trainer who identifies as a woman since being convicted of extremely violent sexual assaults on his ex-wife, has the highest possible risk of violent recidivism in the Correctional Service of Canada rating scale. But no tool exists to assess this risk if he undertakes a sex reassignment operation, as he says he intends to do.
The 46-year-old, imprisoned 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 the sentencing observations. He recently told his lawyer that he had taken steps to undergo sex reassignment surgery, according to psychologist Jean-Philippe Vaillancourt, the psycho-legal expert hired by the defense to assess his risk of recidivism.
A policy formalized last May by the Correctional Service of Canada allows any inmate to be incarcerated in the penitentiary who matches the gender identity with which he identifies, regardless of his sex at birth. More than a dozen transgender inmates have been transferred to women’s prisons, which provide a less harsh prison environment, under this policy.
Burke, who is on his third conviction for repeated sordid sexual assaults against ex-spouses, risks being declared a “dangerous offender”, a status leading to the harshest sentences in the Criminal Code, of an indeterminate duration. .
suicide threats
The report of the forensic expert points out that Burke threatens to commit suicide “if he were to be sentenced to life in perpetuity [et contraint] to live his “trans” lifestyle surrounded by men in a prison environment [masculin] “.
The report assesses that the sex offender does not have the characteristics of a psychopath, but that he has the same traits as offenders who reoffend in a proportion of 76 % five years after their release, and 87 % after 12 years. “97% of detainees have a lower risk score,” Vaillancourt said during a hearing at the Montreal courthouse on Friday.
According to him, however, Burke has more of the characteristics of a “long-term offender”, a status that would theoretically allow him to be released from prison after 10 years.
The risk assessment that led to this conclusion, however, would be of no value if Burke completes his sex reassignment process, since “the tools I use are validated on men, not women,” summarized the psychologist in his report.
To our knowledge, there are no studies that conclusively document changes in recidivism rates (regardless of the type of recidivism) following a sex change.
Jean-Philippe Vaillancourt, psycho-legal expert hired by the defense
“Hormone therapy could reduce the risk of sexual and violent recidivism,” the document stresses, however.
An attempt at manipulation?
Convicted for the first time when he was a minor, Burke was described in a decision by Judge Jean-Jacques Gagné as a manipulative being, “focused on himself”, who “lacks empathy”, and who seeks to to be seen as “a victim of the police, of the court” and of his ex-spouse. During a previous incarceration, he converted to Judaism in prison, which allowed him to participate in certain activities, but he never practiced this religion once released, 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 incarcerated in a prison for men could constitute “an attempt to [le] manipulate “. “I don’t see it that way,” replied the psychologist, pointing out that it is “almost impossible” for a trans woman to live in a male penitentiary. “I know there are possible accommodations, but I didn’t see it as an attempt to manipulate me,” he insisted.
Judge Jean-Jacques Gagné assured that the possible “change of gender orientation” of the sex offender would “not influence [sa] decision “.
“I take note of what he [Jody Matthew Burke] told the court, the psychiatrist, the psychologist, because it’s part of the evidence, but this change will not influence my decision,” he said.