A Midland sex offender who is in the process of changing his name has been denied parole.
Shayne Lund, now 31, was convicted of a series of sex offences involving children as young as two, pornography, bestiality and voyeurism.
He pleaded guilty to 35 criminal charges, was declared a dangerous offender in October 2016 and handed an indeterminate sentence with no fixed release date even though he was described as a first-time offender.
In reviewing his case and whether he would be eligible for parole, the board panel examined his criminal history.
A 2013 complaint led to the initial investigation. Police found photos, text messages and videos on his cell phones. The phones also contained information identifying two co-accused and 13 other victims.
The images revealed bestiality and other disturbing sexual behaviours with his victims.
In its decision to deny full and day parole, the federal parole board’s two-member panel said official documentation showed he engaged in this type of sexual offending for many years.
During his hearing before the board, the now-married Lund indicated he knew he likely wouldn’t be released but wanted to know what he needed to do to eventually get parole.
There was also discussion about his efforts to change his name because of the media attention he had been receiving. But the parole board said the media will be aware of any new name.
During a 2020 hearing, it was revealed Lund found love in jail, developing a relationship with a pen pal which progressed to institutional visits.
The parole board panel referred to a positive upbringing with positive supports and opportunities. But the board also referred to him as having been sexually abused, something he said he only recognized as a source for his own “deviant thinking”.
“You are still working on why you went from being abused to the predatory sexual abuse of your offending. You recognized how your offending was solely for your own sexual gratification,” the board panel wrote.
“Approximately five years ago, you came to the understanding of your offending, you were able to identify children and animals are your risk targets.”
Lund, who didn’t finish high school, is close to completing his Ontario Secondary School Diploma and is working on his French.
The panel touched on some of the headway he was making in addressing and working on his problems. He is participating in programming and was described as being engaged in his correction plan.
But it also referred to some areas of concerns which includes having photos of “young looking girls” in 2020 and “five additional images in your possession that related to your sexual deviant interests.” Lund countered that they were not “sexually triggering.”
“The board finds that the aggravating outweighs the mitigating. Years of sexual offending against young and unsuspecting victims was so harmful and grave you were designated a dangerous offender,” the panel wrote in denying parole.
Because of the acknowledged gaps in his insight the panel found it was unclear when his “deviant sexual inclinations and aggression will diminish to a point of safety to others.”
A release now, it concluded, could impose an undue risk on society, the board concluded.
The next step, it suggested, is cascading from his current medium to minimum security and taking advantage of opportunities like temporary absences and work releases.
