Former paramedic denied day parole, needs more time to work on accountability
CBC News | Posted: March 29, 2018 4:40 PM | Last Updated: March 29, 2018
James Duncan Keats was found guilty of sexually assaulting 3 women while on the job
A former Nova Scotia paramedic who sexually assaulted three women in his care has been denied day parole.
Recent documents from the Parole Board of Canada said James Duncan Keats's accountability for his crimes only occurred very recently.
"[Correctional Service Canada] has considered your lack of accountability, lack of any real insight into your sexually deviant behaviour, lack of any significant effort that you have put forward, and lack of sustained change that will mitigate your risk of reoffending," reads the parole document.
Keats was initially sentenced to four years in prison for raping a 71-year-old woman in her Annapolis Valley home.
As a result of publicity surrounding that case, four other women came forward, alleging Keats sexually assaulted them while he was on the job. At trial, a jury convicted Keats of assaulting two of the women but acquitted him on the charges for the other two. He had another 30 months added onto his four-year sentence.
Keats appealed all three of his convictions. The court rejected his appeals.
In the parole documents denying Keats's request for day parole, the board states that Keats has two institutional charges from his time in prison: one in March 2017 where a false wall was found in his cell and the other from June 2017 when he tried to steal a screwdriver bit from the shop.
Keats said there was no deceptive intent in either of the 2017 institutional charges. Both charges were dismissed on technicalities, according to documents.
Keats only recently accepted responsibility
In addition to owning up to his crimes, according to documents, Keats has taken to studying Buddhism in an attempt to "understand why you acted the way you did." He's also requested counselling and practises meditation.
The board said it believes Keats is at low risk to reoffend but said that's not the only thing it considered in its decision to deny parole.
"While the board recognizes your good intentions and your engagement in your correctional plan, it further believes that all the aforementioned indicators or emerging and ongoing positive changes are new, fragile and at an embryonic stage," said the board in its decision, adding Keats needs more time to work on his progress.