Just after John Greene was declared a dangerous offender and ordered jailed indefinitely, he left court in handcuffs with chilling parting words for the family of the child he brutally sexually assaulted.

"I'm going to get you back."

That last, venomous barb from the psychopathic would-be child killer pushed the little girl's family to tears Tuesday, even as a police officer reassured them that he would never get out of jail again.

In his decision, Justice James Ramsay said that Greene, 30, is a threat to the well being of others who uses women "parasitically" and has a sexual attraction to children.

He cannot be cured of being a psychopath. It's simply who he is. - Justice James Ramsay

"He saw what he wanted and acted violently to get it," Ramsay said. "Someone who would do what the offender did would stop at nothing."

Greene pleaded guilty in 2014 to charges of abduction, attempted murder, sexual interference, breach of probation and robbery.

The charges stem from a violent incident when he grabbed a 7-year-old girl from a central Hamilton apartment building and viciously attacked her.

Girl beaten until blood came out her ears

According to an agreed statement of facts in the case, he savagely assaulted the girl both sexually and physically and then poured chlorine bleach all over her in an attempt to destroy any evidence. The court was told that initially, Greene thought he had killed her.

Ramsay said the girl, who is now 8 years old, was beaten so badly that blood was coming out of her ears and she sustained a concussion. She also sustained a lacerated eyelid, ear canal damage, neck compression injuries and had to deal with other blunt force trauma.

John Adam Greene was declared a dangerous offender this week, and sentenced to stay in jail indefinitely. Now, St. Joseph's Healthcare has launched a review into his care at the hospital days before a brutal attack on a child. (Hamilton Police Service)

Investigators also found Greene's semen and saliva on her body.

In her victim impact statement, the girl – who cannot be named because of a publication ban – drew a picture of herself at a gravesite. "To her, it was a kind of death," Ramsay said.

Greene's lawyer Larissa Fedak told the court that Greene showed remorse by pleading guilty to the crime. "He was glad she hadn't been killed," Fedak said.

She also read out a statement written by Greene, in which he apologized for what he had done. "If you want to call me a piece of sh-t, go ahead," he wrote. "It was a piece of sh-t crime – a piece of sh-t move."

Justice Ramsay, however, dismissed those sentiments as empty. "I doubt he has those emotions as we would understand them," Ramsay said.

Greene laughed and smiled in court

As Ramsay explained that Greene doesn't actually show real remorse or regret and it became obvious that he would be jailed indefinitely, Greene started laughing, smiling and nodding inside the prisoner's box.

"He cannot be cured of being a psychopath," Ramsay said. "It's simply who he is."

Forensic psychiatrist Gary Chaimovicz deemed Greene a psychopath during a recent psychiatric examination.

In fact, Greene even assaulted a corrections officer during the examination that was intended to examine his status as a danger to society. He has 65 past convictions – 30 of which involve violence.

Some of his previous convictions include stabbing a cyclist, shattering an ex-girlfriend's sinus cavity causing permanent nerve damage, hitting another an ex-girlfriend with a bottle while she was holding a child and igniting a roman candle in yet another ex-girlfriend's face.

He also has a wide range of list of offences from inside of jail, running the gamut of physical assaults on guards, as well as throwing urine and masturbating in front of them.

Only Canada's most violent deemed dangerous offenders

The dangerous offender designation that now applies to Greene is reserved for Canada's most violent criminals and sexual predators.

But even though he received an indeterminate sentence, he is still eligible to apply for parole seven years from the date of his arrest. He is also eligible to apply for day release three years before that.

But an important distinction, said Kim Gillespie of Correctional Service Canada, is that decision would totally be at the discretion of the parole board, and contingent on an inmate showing a change of behavior.

That hasn't happened in Greene's long history in and out of jail. He has refused treatment and therapy, and horded drugs intended to improve his mindset.

Crown attorney Janet Booy vehemently opposed Greene ever being released.

"His criminal record speaks for itself," she said.

adam.carter@cbc.ca | @AdamCarterCBC