High-risk sex offender Shaun Deacon raped four children in the 1980s, never stopping his pedophilic behaviour, yet he avoids dangerous offender designation
Crown settles on joint submission for lesser ‘long-term offender’ label meaning Deacon will be out of prison by Christmas
He looks like an old man, but he only just turned 60 this year.
He behaves as if he is frail moving around with a walker, but some say he’s faking or at least exaggerating disability.
What is certain is that Shaun Joshua Deacon is one of Canada’s most notorious pedophile offenders first convicted of sexual offences against a five-year-old girl and three boys under the age of 13 in the 1980s, and never stopping when getting a chance since then.
Despite this and despite a new conviction for accessing and possessing child pornography, he was not deemed a “dangerous offender” as Crown counsel had originally applied, which comes with an indeterminate sentence. He was instead labelled the less serious “long-term offender.”
“His offences follow a predictable pattern,” according to a B.C. Court of Appeal decision from 2004. “He ‘grooms’ children by winning their affection and confidence and then he sexually abuses them.”
While Deacon was awaiting sentencing for his first several horrific offences against children, he abducted a child in Kelowna. He also has other sexual assault convictions in 1996 and 1998, and he breached supervision orders in 2002, 2009, 2014, 2018, and at least twice since then.
Deacon was released from Matsqui Institution on March 18, 2022, and the Abbotsford Police Department (APD) issued a public notification that he would be living in the area. A few weeks later he was arrested for shoplifting from a store on South Fraser Way near Sevenoaks Shopping Centre. He was sentenced to another three months jail.
On April 27, 2022, while being monitored by officers with the Integrated Sexual Offender Observation Team making sure Deacon was adhering to the conditions of his release. He was spotted in a Wendy’s parking lot on a lap-top computer. One officer observed tabs open on a web browser related to child pornography, which is referred to in the criminal code and courts as child sexual abuse and exploitation material (CSAEM).
Deacon was arrested and his computer was found with one unique video and 2,337 images of CSAEM. His browser history was found with child pornography websites.
He’ll be out soon
The quote above from the B.C. Court of Appeal from 2004 was part of a dismissed appeal Deacon made to attempt to overturn a 10-year long-term supervision order (LTSO).
Since then, Deacon has breached supervision orders in the community many times, including five times over 20 months in 2006 and 2007 when he was living in a Kelowna halfway house. He then breached a number of times. According to dates easily discoverable, that was in 2009, 2014, 2018, and twice in 2022, which includes the shoplifting and the child porn.
The most recent child porn charges were scheduled on the court list for a dangerous offender application by Crown counsel. In court on Monday, however, Abbotsford provincial court Judge Paul Sandhu acceded to a new joint submission from Crown and Deacon's lawyer to the lesser long-term offender (LTO) designation.
The difference?
A dangerous offender (DO) label is the most serious label reserved for violent and sexual offenders who pose a continued danger and are unlikely to ever be rehabilitated or be manageable under supervision in the community. DO comes with an indeterminate sentence with the offender able to apply for parole after serving seven years. The Parole Board of Canada then decides if release is safe, but most DOs remain in custody for life.
A long-term offender (LTO) designation, on the other hand, is meant for offenders who are dangerous but treatable, people who still pose a substantial risk but are believed to be capable of rehabilitation or manageable under supervision. This category was created in 1997 as a more flexible alternative to DO status.
The LTO follows the offender into whatever custodial sentence is ordered, and it is then followed by up to 10 years of community supervision under a long-term supervision order (LTSO).
So more than 25 years after Deacon received a LTO followed by a LTSO, expiring in 2008, and many more breaches and other criminal offences, prosecutors decided not to push for DO but to allow another LTO.
If, as the saying goes, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, Monday’s decision might represent a criminal justice system that’s a little unhinged.
Only 44 more days in jail
Deacon sat in the prisoner’s box in courtroom 306 in the Abbotsford Law Courts on Monday looking much older than his 60 years. He wore corrections-issued orange track suit. He's obese, grey and balding with a grey beard and glasses. He listened and looking intently at Judge Sandhu as he read his decision. APD officers warned three years ago that Deacon frequently changed his appearance over the years. That and natural aging shows very different looking photos of him over the years, today he looks most like the image below with red sweatshirt.
To be able to apply an LTO designation, the offence must be something that would have netted a federal sentence, namely, at least two years. Judge Sandhu said this met that criteria and he sentenced him to three years in prison as part of the LTO followed by a 10-year long-term supervision order (LTSO), the maximum.
Because Deacon has served 701 days in pre-trial custody, with 1.5-to-one credit for time served, that is credit as of Monday of 1,052 days. Three years is 1,096 days, which means he has just 44 more days in prison to serve. By Dec. 2, 2025 or so, he'll be out again.
Once released, he will be under the LTSO, force to live, at least at first, at a halfway house or community correctional centre. Two locations Judge Sandhu discussed the possibility of him living was the Community Correctional Centre (CCC) in Chilliwack or the Salvation Army run Belkin House in Vancouver. CCCs are operated by the Correctional Service Canada (CSC) and provide 24-hour supervision. They house offenders on full parole, statutory release, and long-term supervision orders. Belkin House has standard Salvation Army emergency housing services, among other things, but also has 30 beds for male federal offenders re-integrating into the community.
Judge Sandhu recommended Belkin House, although where an offender is released to is not up to judges, it’s up to CSC officials.
At the end of the proceedings, Judge Sandhu turned to the prisoner’s box and said, “Good luck Mr. Deacon.”
“Thank you your honour,” Deacon replied softly.
As he left the box, the sheriff unlocked the steel door remotely and with his left arm, Deacon opened the heavy door, and with his right arm he picked up his walker and passed it through the doorway ahead of him.
-30-
Want to support independent journalism?
Consider becoming a paid subscriber or make a one-time donation so I can continue this work.
Paul J. Henderson
pauljhenderson@gmail.com
facebook.com/PaulJHendersonJournalist
instagram.com/wordsarehard_pjh
x.com/PeeJayAitch
wordsarehard-pjh.bsky.social