Parole board says Nunavut man too dangerous to live on his own

A Nunavut man who stabbed another man in the neck in Yellowknife and beat a jail guard is too dangerous to be living in an unsupervised home, according to a recent Parole Board of Canada decision.

Jordan Charlie, now 21, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for the two unprovoked attacks. According to an agreed statement of facts read out at his Sept. 2019 sentencing, the victim of the stabbing immediately jumped into a cab and rushed to the hospital, but still lost two litres of blood before a surgeon could stop the bleeding. The victim had to be medevaced to Edmonton for treatment.

While being held at the North Slave Correctional Centre on that charge, Charlie suddenly turned on a guard as he was being escorted back to his cell after a video court appearance. He punched, kicked and stomped the guard for 30 seconds, stopping only after other corrections officers arrived.

After being given credit for time he had served awaiting sentencing, Charlie had three years and eight months left on his sentence.

By law, almost all offenders must be released after serving two thirds of federal sentences, to allow them to transition to life outside of prison. Only when the Parole Board of Canada believes an offender is likely to seriously harm or kill someone, sexually assault a child or commit a serious drug offence can the board order them to serve their full sentence.

The parole board came up just short of that, ordering Charlie to remain in a halfway house in an undisclosed location for the final third of his sentence.

A chaotic childhood

Addressing him directly in a Feb. 12 written decision, the board said, "Your need for constant direct supervision is evident by numerous incident reports found on file, as there are instances of assaults on other offenders, threatening self-harm, verbal threats, and self-harming."

Though it does not disclose what prison Charlie is serving his time in, the parole board decision notes he is being kept in a special unit due to the instability of his mental health.

The board noted that in March of 2021, a psychiatrist found that Charlie is coping with numerous mental health issues. His childhood and adolescence was chaotic, abusive and violent. The report said violence and prostitution were normal parts of his home life as a child.

The parole board said that Charlie has not completed any programming while in prison, though in recent months he has started to meet with an elder working in the prison system.