HALIFAX—The Crown says it will be opposed to any release before trial of a convicted sex offender who is charged with aggravated sexual assault in connection with a June 1 incident that Halifax Police are calling a random act.

Crown attorney Carla Ball said Monday that if Sem Paul Obed, 47, is found guilty, the Crown will be exploring further measures to ensure public safety.

Under the Criminal Code of Canada, if they meet certain conditions, people who are convicted three or more times of violent crimes or sex crimes may be designated a dangerous offender. This puts the onus on the offender, instead of the Crown, to prove they are not a danger to society. The designation can open up the possibility of sentences with no defined end date. In practice, it usually means a life sentence, although parole may still be possible.

In Obed’s case, “We clearly are going to be opposed to this person’s release,” Ball said outside of a Halifax provincial courtroom.

“The allegations are extremely serious. They are extensive and we will be opposing (Obed’s release) on both the secondary ground, which is the concern for public safety, and the tertiary ground, which is we want to make sure that the public has confidence in the administration of justice.”

Obed appeared in court on Monday in connection with an alleged break-in and sexual assault against a woman at her home on Friday.

Halifax Regional Police said the incident took place in the 6000 block of Cunard St. at about 11:50 a.m. Friday.

According to a police release, the suspect sexually assaulted the woman, then fled the residence on foot.

The victim called the authorities after the suspect fled, police say.

At about 4:30 p.m. Friday, police arrested Obed at a residence in the 0-100 block of McFatridge Rd. in the Fairview area of Halifax, without incident.

On Saturday, investigators with the Sexual Assault Investigative Team charged Obed with one count each of aggravated sexual assault, choking to overcome resistance, uttering threats, breaking and entering, and two counts of breaching court orders involving abstaining from alcohol.

Halifax Regional Police spokeswoman Const. Carol McIsaac said police believe the suspect and alleged victim did not know one another.

“It would be scary for her and very upsetting to the (area) residents, I would think.”

Obed was the subject of a Halifax Regional Police high-risk offender notice to those living in the Halifax area in August 2014, when he was released from a federal penitentiary and relocated to the Halifax area after serving a two-year sentence for assault causing bodily harm and breach of probation.

These convictions came in 2012 when, as reported by CBC, Obed pleaded guilty to charges relating to serious physical assaults against two different women in his home province of Newfoundland.

Obed had been professionally assessed as a very high risk to reoffend in a sexual and violent manner, police said at the time.

McIsaac said the investigators looked at Obed as a suspect after interviewing the victim.

“We do have a unit that monitors high-risk offenders that are in our community,” she said. “We did identify him quickly and he was taken into custody.”

Regardless of the circumstances of this particular case, a Halifax sexual-assault advocate said alleged incidents like these demonstrate two things: The need to provide better treatment to offenders to lower their chances of reoffending, and also that sexual assaults are never the victim’s fault.

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Jackie Stevens, of Avalon Sexual Assault Centre, said in an interview Monday, “I think it speaks to the need for ongoing treatment and support (for offenders) ... It certainly notes that we tend to put the onus on the prevention of sexual assault on victims. And these kind of situations demonstrate that it is solely the onus on the perpetrator and on the legal system to ensure public safety and prevention of sexual assault.”

Stevens said she is not familiar enough with high risk and dangerous offender designations to comment.

Obed will remain behind bars until his next appearance on June 20.

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