Ontario child sex predator avoids dangerous offender status
· Toronto Sun
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An Ontario man who pleaded guilty to child sexual assault and child pornography charges avoided being designated a dangerous offender in a Barrie courtroom on Tuesday.
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Michael Richard Ferguson, who will turn 52 next month, pleaded guilty in June 2024 to four counts of sexual assault as well as one count each of making child pornography and possession of child pornography.
Crown prosecutors had applied to have Ferguson slapped with a dangerous offender tag, which could have led to him being jailed indefinitely.
However, in a ruling by Superior Court Justice Michelle Fuerst, Ferguson was instead given a long-term supervision order (LTSO) after he serves his sentence.
“I am not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Ferguson is a dangerous offender … The application to have him declared a dangerous offender on the four counts of sexual assault is dismissed,” Fuerst wrote.
Ferguson was sentenced to eight years and 4 1/2 months in prison after the judge subtracted credit for time served, followed by a 10-year LTSO once he is released from custody.
Few mitigating factors
The judge said there were few mitigating factors in her sentence apart from Ferguson pleading guilty, “which for sentencing purposes is taken as a sign of remorse and willingness to accept responsibility for his actions.”
Defence lawyer Daniel J. Brodsky said his client was relieved to hear that he was not labelled a dangerous offender.
“Still, Mr. Ferguson understands that he will be going to the penitentiary for a very long time and when he gets out, he will be strictly supervised in the community as a long-term offender for an even longer time,” Brodsky said in an emailed statement.
According to an agreed statement of facts, Ferguson pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a young child between April 1998 and September 1999. In addition, he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting two young children between 2012 and 2017 as well as a fourth victim between June and August 2017.
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Sex offender in U.S.
Ferguson’s history of child sex assaults was also documented south of the border.
After marrying an American citizen, Ferguson obtained a U.S. permanent residency card in 2002 and moved to Oklahoma.
The following year, police investigated Ferguson following a complaint that he sexually assaulted the daughter of a woman he had a relationship with. After being made aware of the investigation, he fled to Canada and a warrant for his arrest was issued in Oklahoma.
While on the lam, he wrote a book about the woman’s child. He detailed in the book that “his only real interest in (the woman) was getting closer to her seven-year-old daughter,” the ruling stated. He described touching her sexually multiple times and sometimes performing a sex act while doing so.
Ferguson returned to Oklahoma in November 2017 and was arrested. He was found guilty of first-degree rape and sentenced to 15 years in jail, all of which was suspended except for the first four years minus credit for pre-trial custody.
Complaint led to Ontario investigation
While in custody in Oklahoma, police in Ontario began investigating Ferguson in April 2020 following a complaint of a historical sexual assault.
About two weeks later, police seized electronic devices owned and used by Ferguson stored at the home of friends since his 2017 arrest. Further devices and DVDs were seized in February 2021 after a friend contacted police, which were not found during an earlier police search.
The following month, investigators revealed that about 250 seized DVDs had handwriting on them and contained child pornography, including the violent sexual assault of a young female and the rape of a toddler.
In all, investigators retrieved thousands of files containing pictures and videos of child pornography.
In May 2021, Ferguson was released from a U.S. jail and was taken into immigration detention. He was deported to Canada on Sept. 8, 2021, and has been in custody since then.
Two weeks later, while being held at the Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene, Ferguson attempted suicide and left a multi-page handwritten letter inside an envelope addressed to the “Lead Detective on my criminal case. Very sensitive case information.”
In it, he admitted to sexually abusing multiple children in the U.S. and Canada and claimed that, as a child, he saw his father watching pornography. However, he would later claim the information in the letter was not true.
“My client suffers from pedophilia,” Brodsky said. “Unfortunately, he has never received treatment for it. It’s unfortunate because for such people, there is a standard, evidence-based course of treatment/management that has been proven to work and reduce recidivism.”