Ontario police warn public as repeat sex offender released again

For the third straight year, an Ontario police force is warning about the release of the same high-risk sex offender with several past convictions for sexual assaults against a child and women dating back almost 20 years.

The Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) has issued a safety alert that 48-year-old Keith Theodore Constantin, “who poses a significant risk to the community, especially children,” will be living at an undisclosed location in the region effective Sunday.

Constantin is “subject to electronic monitoring” 24-hours daily, but DRPS said in a Saturday news release that its offender management unit will also keep tabs on his “whereabouts and activities.”

The Hamilton native was in custody after being arrested last March for breaching the conditions of his release in the Oshawa area after just two days of freedom, according to DRPS.

The police service also warned of his release in May of 2024, as reported by the Toronto Sun.

It’s not immediately clear what Constantin had been imprisoned for at the time. National Post has contacted the Parole Board of Canada for more information about his release.

DRPS warned that Constantin has a history of sexual assault with a weapon, robbery, possession of explosives and uttering threats, among other crimes.

His first serious convictions came in 2000 when he was sentenced for two armed robberies and two sexual assaults — one against a seven-year-old boy he’d lured to a park and another on a 45-year-old blind woman who lived in the same building as him.

It’s not clear how much time he served, but he was free in fall 2007, as he was later convicted of sexually assaulting an epileptic woman in the basement apartment of his parents’ home as she was recovering from a seizure that September, according to a 2014 story in The Hamilton Spectator.

He said “Shut up, or I will kill you,” when she screamed for help, CBC reported.

He never went to trial because the stress induced seizures and fears of suicide in his 27-year-old victim. Instead, he made a plea deal in 2009, was sentenced to eight years and received four years’ credit for time served. It also earned him a spot on the national sex-offender registry for life.

His 2014 release was met with considerable pushback in the Hamilton neighbourhoods where he was set to reside when  York Regional Police (YRP) warned of it, National Post reported, leading him to break curfew and ask to be imprisoned again. YRP issued another warning in December 2015 when he was released again after serving 18 months for the curfew breach.

During a 2014 court hearing, Constantin said he’d begun taking a chemical castration drug, The Spectator reported, and that he is no longer a serious risk to the community.

“When I was younger I did mess up a lot, I did screw up, and I think I paid the price for it. But I do understand the seriousness of it, I do understand what I’ve done,” he said, adding that he would have his genitalia “surgically removed” to prove it if he could afford to do so.

“I know in my heart and my mind that I’d never do it again,” he said.

The Parole Board of Canada felt different at the time, according to a decision obtained by The Spectator, which highlighted Constantin’s own “urges of reoffending against children and young women and that (he) has thoughts of killing.”

The documents indicate diagnoses of alcohol and drug addiction, paranoid schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, an “extremely low range of intellectual ability,” and “character features associated with psychopathy.”

He was also a problematic inmate who threw urine and feces at correctional officers, threatened suicide with a razor blade and ignored personal hygiene. His behaviour led him to spend time in maximum security facilities and in segregation, led to the suspension of mental health supports, and got him kicked out of prison programs.

Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter issued a press release thanking the DRPS for “proactively informing the public and for its continued efforts to monitor high-risk offenders.”

Carter said residents are right to be concerned and that he supports provincial and federal work “to strengthen bail and sentencing laws, particularly for repeat and violent offenders and those convicted of serious crimes.

“These reforms are vital to enhancing public safety and ensuring that justice is served fairly and effectively.

DRPS said Constantin is bound by multiple conditions as part of his high-risk release peace bond under the Criminal Code of Canada.

He must report to them weekly and abide by a 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. curfew, less lenient than the 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. curfew applied when added to the RCMP’s high-risk child sex offender database at age 45.

He’s not allowed to “associate or communicate” with kids under 16, nor “engage in any activities that involve contact with anyone under” that age. He’s also forbidden from being near daycares, swimming areas, school grounds, playgrounds or any community centre where children under 16 are present. He can go to public places where children under 16 may be, but only when accompanied by someone 21 or older.

He’s not allowed to possess, purchase or consume any alcohol, drugs, narcotics or controlled substances. Nor can he use “the internet or other digital networks” or possess a device that can go online.

He’s prohibited from associating with criminals or people with a record, can’t own or possess weapons and cannot be in a relationship with a parent of a child under 16.

“Police are asking the public to stay vigilant and remain aware of their surroundings,” DRPS wrote. “Any suspicious or dangerous behaviour should be reported directly to the police.”

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