jappel@medicinehatnews.com@MHNJeremyAppel
A repeat sexual offender from Medicine Hat has been released from prison and is residing in Calgary, according to a public warning from that city’s police force.
Michael Delmas, 36, was released from custody Friday after the completion of his six-and-a-half year sentence handed down in Medicine Hat Provincial Court for one count of sexual assault – his third such conviction since 2007.
He’s previously been convicted of sexual interference, sexual assault, robbery, possession of a controlled substance, possession of property obtained by crime, flight from police, fraud, theft, break and enter and possession of a prohibited or restricted weapon, according to the warning.
Delmas will be monitored by the Calgary Police Service High Risk Offender Program.
The CPS decided to issue this warning “after careful deliberation and consideration of all related issues, including privacy concerns, in the belief that it is clearly in the public interest to inform members of the community” of his presence.
The release stresses that its purpose is to make the public aware and not to encourage any acts of vigilantism.
The Crown in Medicine Hat attempted to run a dangerous offender hearing prior to Delmas’s sentencing, but its request was rejected by the office of the attorney general for reasons that cannot be disclosed due to solicitor-client privilege.
However, the ministry told the News after his sentencing in July that the Crown provided them with all relevant information and documentation in its application.
Dangerous offender designation would have given the presiding judge the ability to impose an indeterminate sentence for up to seven years, a regular sentence with additional long-term supervision, or just a regular sentence.
Delmas was sentenced July 10 to 78 months in custody for his most recent sexual assault, but with credit for time served in custody since his April 2015 arrest, Delmas served just an additional 4.5 months of incarceration.
As per the sentence, he will be on probation for the next three years.
According to a court-ordered psychological assessment, Delmas suffers from several mental illnesses, including anti-social personality, borderline personality, sexual sadism and substance abuse disorders.
