A disturbing picture is emerging of a man police say is a high risk to reoffend in a violent manner.
The man is Eddie Matthew Henshaw, 45, who is just completing a 32-month sentence for sexual assaults that occurred in the Windsor area of Nova Scotia.
On Tuesday, RCMP issued a high-risk offender notification because of Henshaw's imminent release from Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick. In their notice, RCMP said Henshaw has a criminal history dating back to 1993 that includes assaults and sexual assaults.
The crimes that led to his current sentence involve sexual assaults against young children.
In April of last year, the Parole Board of Canada reviewed Henshaw's case. The board decided at that time that he was too high a risk to allow him out of prison before the end of his sentence, which is on Thursday.
The reasons for the board's decision shed light on just how violent and dangerous Henshaw has been. The details may be upsetting to some readers.
Warning: Graphic details
In one instance reviewed by the board, Henshaw offered to drive a young girl home. Instead, he drove her to an isolated area, grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to a body of water. He held her head under water several times, threatening to kill her. He then removed her clothes and sexually assaulted her. After the girl begged for her life and promised not to tell anyone about the attack, Henshaw dropped her off near her home, naked from the waist down.
Henshaw denied using physical violence on the girl and said she was lying, despite there being physical evidence to support her story.
The board also recounted an incident where Henshaw broke into a woman's home and crawled into bed with her and tried to force himself on her. He later denied her version of events. She did not press charges.
In deciding not to release Henshaw, the board cited the recommendation of his case management team:
"Taking into consideration all your factors, your CMT believes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that you are likely to commit a sexual offence involving a child or an offence causing death or serious harm to another person before the expiration of your sentence according to law."
While Henshaw can no longer be held in prison, his release comes with strict conditions, including that he abstain from drugs and alcohol and stay away from areas that children frequent.