In a report from -, we learn that Jérémie Perron, a sexual attacker sentenced to 10 years in prison for a sexual assault causing injury to a 17-year-old minor, now calls himself Jennifer.
Let’s remember the facts. Perron kidnapped and raped a teenage girl he had known for years in the absence of her parents. His action was premeditated and he even took care to conceal his identity to carry out the act. He covered his face and pretended to be an English speaker.
The attack lasted two hours. With a bag on her head, the teenager had to perform oral sex on him even though she vomited several times.
Then, Perron took care to clean up the crime scene and quietly returned to sleep with his partner at the time.
When the police began to suspect him, Perron found an alibi and tried to escape the DNA sample. It took several months before the police caught him. All the while, Perron continued to shamelessly associate with the teenager and her family, while the Jonquière community lived in fear of a sexual predator.
Since March 2024, Perron has been granted full parole after spending several months in a halfway house, where he is said to have begun the process of changing his gender.
Jérémie now calls himself Jennifer, although the process is not complete.
Would gender identity become an escape?
According to data from Correctional Service Canada (CSC), the number of inmates and parolees in the community requesting accommodation measures related to their identity or gender has increased drastically over the past four years.
-We can ask ourselves questions about the real motivations of these individuals. Those of Perron remain nebulous.
Does he actually have gender dysphoria? Is there an assessment made in this regard by the CSC? Is this another concealment technique?
After all, by changing gender and appearance, some offenders may seek to conceal their background, cover their tracks, or insert themselves into contexts where they could have access to new victims.
Protection of victims, a neglected priority
It should be noted that Perron is considered by the CSC to be an individual presenting a medium risk of sexual recidivism, since he persists in denying his assault and would have difficulty controlling his sexual urges.
However, the CSC did not see fit to inform the victim and her family of Perron’s change in appearance, stipulating that the Corrections and Conditional Release Act did not allow this to be done.
However, nothing in the Act prevents them from doing so and section 26(1)(d) even allows them to give a photograph of the offender to the victim.
The victim’s relatives therefore learned by chance that Perron had become a woman, upon meeting him in a restaurant.
