KITCHENER — Dan Magda, a Kitchener pedophile convicted of sexually abusing five young boys, has cleared one of two hurdles in his quest to avoid being declared a dangerous offender.

Justice Michael Epstein ruled on Friday that a section of the Criminal Code on dangerous offenders violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

One more ruling — whether the infringement can be "saved" by another section of the charter — is pending.

If it can't be saved, Magda's dangerous-offender hearing will switch to a hearing to determine if he should be labelled a long-term offender.

The distinction is huge. Dangerous offenders can be locked up indefinitely. Long-term offenders face a regular sentence followed by community supervision.

Magda's sexual offences date back to 1994 when he began abusing three boys over several years. Two of the boys were 10 years old when the abuse began. One was six.

Family members of the victims, who expected Magda would get five years in prison as proposed by the prosecution, were shocked at the two-year sentence in a provincial jail handed down in 2007.

"That just shows there's no penalty for predators," the mother of the youngest victim said at the time. "It shows you can get away with it. You can molest a six-year-old in any way, shape and form you want to, but it's OK."

Magda, now 41, served just eight months of the sentence and went on to victimize two more boys, aged 10 and three.

Those crimes came to light after a brother of the older boy discovered videos and photos of the abuse taken by Magda on a digital camera.

In 2014, psychiatrist Dr. Derek Pallandi testified he interviewed Magda for six hours. Magda acknowledged a sexual attraction to boys that requires treatment.

"I'm a monster," Pallandi quoted him as saying. "I hate it. I'm the worst person in society."

On Friday, Magda, wearing glasses and sporting a moustache and a goatee, listened with his head bowed and hands cuffed in the prisoner's box as Epstein read his ruling.

The judge concluded a Criminal Code section is "contrary to the overbreadth principle of fundamental justice as it does not permit a consideration of the future treatment prospects of an offender during the dangerous offender designation stage of the proceedings."

Epstein ruled it violates Section 7 of the charter, which says: "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person, and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice."

Now, Epstein will decide whether the infringement is allowed under Section 1 of the charter, which says it guarantees rights and freedoms "subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society."

A date for Epstein's ruling will be set on Feb. 10.

Last year, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled the same part of the Criminal Code cited by Epstein is unconstitutional and gave Ottawa one year to bring its dangerous offender provisions in line with the charter, according to a Canadian Bar Association magazine website.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

The dangerous offender law is "overbroad," Magda's defence lawyer, Bruce Ritter, said in an interview. "It's very difficult to justify."

He called Epstein's ruling a partial victory.

"It's a start," he said.