A series of romance in series was declared Friday in a courtroom in Edmonton. The Alberta man has frauded victims of almost $ 200,000.
Justice thinks that he will not change his behavior, which is part of his reason for having given him a prison sentence without end date.
Jeffrey Paul Kent, fifty-five, has more than a dozen fraud charges that extend over 35 years in British Columbia and Alberta, but the decision to declare a dangerous offender comes from his romantic scams.
Justice Melanie Hayes-Richard told court on Friday that Kent had destroyed the lives and finances of his victims and had left them seriously psychological.
“He is a serial fraudster. Convince women of lies and false promises to access their finances. Mr. Kent is an accomplished and master manipulator liar, “said Hayes-Richard in his decision.
Kent met five of his victims via an online dating website. He would create false personalities to go out with women, and tell them when he had a variety of different jobs. Hayes-Richard said he would use “love bombing tactics”.
Kent would then ask them for money. He asked the victims of commercial opportunities, then had not reimbursed the money and sometimes said that he had brain cancer or input disorders.
Get daily national news
Get the best news of the day, political, economic and current affairs, delivered in your reception box once a day.
The court learned that most of the time, he spent the money to play the casino or on horse racing. Kent has frauds women over $ 170,000.
“Using it is linked, he inserted himself in the life of his victims, promising a brilliant and safe future. Instead, he wreaked havoc,” said Hayes-Richard.
By declaring a dangerous offender to him, justice said that nothing had managed to change his behavior and that she did not doubt that he would return to Romanesque scams. She also says that it is a threat to the well-being of others.
“He is completely indifferent to the effect of his criminal behavior on his victims and, in some cases, to their children. He has been treated and intellectually understands his criminal behavior. He is at high risk of recurrence by committing a serious offense for injuries,” said Hayes-Richard.
“There is no other alternative raised by evidence that could adequately protect the public from the Commission by Mr. Kent from serious offense to injuries other than an indefinite sentence.”
Professor Doug King, Professor of Criminal Justice at the Royal University, says that the designations of dangerous delinquents in Canada are rare.
“This is a whole obstacle for the courts.
Kent has been in detention since September 24, 2018. He will be eligible for his first parole hearing that day in September. King says that the possibility of a dangerous offender is rare.
“Although they are eligible for parole, the presumption is that they will not get it, unless they have shown a significant improvement and the probability that they are not telling again,” said King.
“To give a context, a person found guilty of first -degree murder in Canada is eligible for a parole at 25; Most come out if they apply. Most dangerous offenders do not come out. We are talking about a very different type of offender in the context of the Criminal Justice system in Canada. ”
Justice has also ordered Kent to restore the women he has fraud.
& Copy 2025 Global News, A Division of Corus Entertainment Inc.