Arthur Stanley Gallant - Repeat Sex Offender

Smoking crack at a halfway house has sent a pedophile back to jail.
Arthur Stanley Gallant, the former Dartmouth man who molested local children, photographed them and posted the images on the web, was released to an undisclosed halfway house on Sept. 20.

But within two months, he admitted to smoking crack in his room, leading authorities to suspend his statutory release and send him back to jail.

“You explained that you were struggling with underlying issues in the community, the stigma of being a sex offender, and the idea that you may never have a relationship because of your offence history,” states a Feb. 12 report of the National Parole Board.

During the board’s suspension review hearing, Mr. Gallant also claimed that addictions counselling in the community “was a trigger for your use and ultimately to blame for your return to (crack) cocaine,” the report states.

Mr. Gallant argued that his honesty should be rewarded, but the board panel ruled that “your risk has elevated to a level inconsistent with public safety,” and decided to keep him in jail.

In 2003, Mr. Gallant was sentenced to eight years in prison for sexual assault, sexual touching and making and possessing child pornography. The offences happened in Mr. Gallant’s Dartmouth apartment in the basement of his mother’s house between Aug. 1, 2000, and Feb. 3, 2002.

Officers arrested Mr. Gallant within four hours after they received a complaint from a parent. They also seized his computer and found 1,500 images, most of which were child pornography.

Provincial court Judge Flora Buchan ordered Mr. Gallant to serve at least half his sentence before he could be paroled. Mr. Gallant had actually served two-thirds of the sentence before he was sent to the halfway house on statutory release. By law, offenders are automatically freed from prison on statutory release unless corrections officials successfully argue against the move.

In the beginning, Mr. Gallant “appeared to be complying with the special conditions,” the parole report states.

He’d been ordered not to access the Internet, not possess a camera, have no unsupervised contact with children under 16 without his release supervisor’s approval and abstain from all intoxicants. He also got a full-time job and took part in counselling.

But leading up to his suspension, Mr. Gallant’s case management team said he “questioned the need for some of (his) special conditions, indicating a lack of insight into (his) offence pattern.” After the drug incident, the team recommended that he remain in jail.

Even when his eight-year prison term expires, Mr. Gallant won’t be completely free of special conditions. At sentencing, Judge Buchan also declared Mr. Gallant a long-term offender. The court heard he’d displayed sexual deviancy and robust anti-social traits and had difficulty wrestling with sexual demons. His risk to reoffend violently was described at the time as moderate to high.

The designation means he will be monitored by police for 10 years and during this time must undergo random drug testing; cannot be unsupervised with children under 16; cannot work or volunteer with children and is banned from using personal computers or the Internet, cameras or weapons.

The parole board will review Mr. Gallant’s case again next year.