Canada’s youngest dangerous offender, who sexually assaulted a baby, is seeking leave from prison

A convict who became Canada’s youngest dangerous offender after sexually abusing a three-month-old baby is seeking an supervised leave from prison to attend Indigenous cultural ceremonies in Vancouver.

Tara Desousa, now 43, has applied to the Federal Court to overturn a decision by B.C.’s Fraser Valley Institute denying her “certified temporary absence” from the federal women’s prison.

Desousa, then named Adam Laboucan, was 15 years old in 1997 when she sexually assaulted a baby she was babysitting in Quesnel, B.C. The baby required surgery to repair the injuries.

Desousa, who underwent gender-affirming surgery while serving an indeterminate sentence, also admitted to drowning a three-year-old boy when she was 11, which the judge in the sexual assault case said was not yet the age of criminal liability.

BC Supreme Court Justice Victor Curtis imposed an indeterminate sentence and dangerous offender designation in 1999 because there was no foreseeable “time window in which Adam Laboucan could be cured.”

“It is not my intention that Mr. Laboucan be held in prison for years without hope of release,” the judge wrote of the then 17-year-old.

“What is intended, and what must happen, is that Mr. Labou can only be detained as long as this is necessary because of the risk he poses.”

The BC Court of Appeal upheld the dangerous offender designation in 2002.

De Sousa’s application, filed in October in federal court in Vancouver, says she first applied for supervised leave in August 2023 to attend ceremonies at the Anderson Lodge’s “women’s healing centre.”

The lodge is run by the Circle of Eagles Lodge Society, an Indigenous-led organization led by CEO Merv Thomas.

Thomas said in an interview that he could not comment on individual perpetrators, but that many people “who come into our facilities deal with a lot of historical trauma.”

He said the association takes a “holistic” approach to helping people heal through ceremonies held at the lodge, and that “those involved in culture and ceremonies have a greater chance of positively reintegrating into the community.’

“We leave the final judgment to the creator,” he said. “We don’t judge anyone who comes to us.”

He said there are “strict” conditions and protocols for offenders coming to the association’s facilities, and that “community safety” is of the utmost importance.

In his decades with the organization, Thomas says even he has difficulty reading the files of the “brothers and sisters” who seek help from the association because they read about some of the “horrific things” that they have done.

“But I also started reading and started to understand where they came from and some of the atrocities and the harm that was done to them,” he said.

“I understand and I see both sides and it is often very difficult to put our judgments aside. But at the same time, we work with them and believe that everyone has a chance for change.”

Desousa’s Vancouver lawyer, Caroline North, declined to comment on the Federal Court filing.

Several parole attempts against Desousa have been rejected, most recently in June 2024.

The Parole Board of Canada’s decision said the victim of the assault and their “family have suffered pain, fear and anxiety and long-lasting emotional consequences as a result of your offending.”

“Each time you are up for parole, they are haunted by your transgressions and the harm you caused to their defenseless son/grandson,” the decision said.

According to the board decision, Desousa was the victim of “extreme” abuse as a child, bullied at school, diagnosed with “various disorders” and exhibited “violent and sexual behavior” around other children.

The Desousa case management team believed that supervised temporary absences were “the next logical step in reintegration and gradual release.”

However, the board ruled that Desousa posed “an excessive risk to society” if released on parole.

A profile in Desousa’s name is listed on Canadian Inmates Connect, which connects convicts with potential pen pals.

“I have been in prison since I was fifteen. I was frequently abused as a child and did not know that this was not normal behavior,” says the profile, which includes photos. “I know it now and I regret it. I never got the chance to interact with the world properly growing up.”

Thomas said prisoners approved for supervised absence to visit the lodge must go through a “rigorous” process, but those who participate in ceremonies and access other support from elders and counselors see the greatest opportunity for reform and rehabilitation.

“When people embrace their culture, that’s when we’ve seen the most change in people,” he said. “They have to do the work themselves because if they don’t do the work, we can’t change them.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2024.

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press