THE CANDACE DERKSEN CASE: Parole Board files paint sordid picture
MARK Grant is a schizophrenic whose mind is filled with disturbing rape fantasies, lust for vulnerable teens, a hatred of women and an unwillingness to take any treatment for his perversions, according to the National Parole Board.
Documents obtained Wednesday by the Free Press paint a chilling picture of his extensive criminal history and attitude towards his victims.
Grant spent nearly 13 years in prison from 1991 to 2004 -- save for a nine-day stretch of parole when he raped another young woman.
Grant was a recent participant in Siloam Mission's MOST (Mission: Off the Street Team) employment training program, John Mohan, Executive Director of Siloam Mission, said Wednesday evening.
"We were also surprised that he was on a warning list for suspected predators. Our hearts are overwhelmed for the Derksen family, and our thoughts and prayers are with them at this time."
Behind bars, Grant alluded to other sex crimes dating as far back as the 1970s for which he was never charged, but he never disclosed specific details nor mentioned Candace Derksen.
Justice officials had grave concern for the safety of any young woman who had contact with him.
Mark Grant
"Your sexual/assaultive behaviour has resulted in serious harm to the victims. You have been predatory in your choice of victims, often looking for unsophisticated and vulnerable post-pubescent female children," the parole board wrote in revoking his parole in 1995.
"The board is satisfied that, if released, you are likely to commit an offence causing the death of or serious harm to another person before the expiration of your sentence."
It noted Grant's self-reported "sexually deviant" behaviour that hadn't resulted in criminal charges -- including raping a drunk female stranger. He linked his "hatred of women" to the behaviour of his mother and sister and being "victimized" as a child but gave no specifics.
He also refused any type of treatment -- such as chemical castration -- that would have reduced his sexual urges.
Consequences
"You are considered to be more concerned about your own sexual gratification than you are about the consequences your offending causes to others," the parole board wrote in 2004. "You admit your sexual gratification comes from the vulnerability of young women and children as 'they are so trusting.'"
Testing of Grant revealed an "elevated level of arousal to rape stimuli" with the highest peaks occurring "with material depicting inappropriate sexual contacts with children, predominantly to female."
Grant's criminal record at the time Derksen went missing in November 1984 included a prior sexual assault conviction against an underage sex trade worker, plus convictions for forgery, fraud, break and enter, escape and failing to comply with court orders.
He was convicted in November 1991 of raping a young female sex trade worker and given four years in prison.
In July 1994 he was released on parole, then brutally raped a woman, 22, nine days later.
She told court Grant approached her downtown and invited her for a beer at his place nearby. She went, and he locked the deadbolt as soon they got inside.
"And then I turned around and he grabbed my throat and pushed me on the couch," she said. Grant pulled her hair and moved her into the bedroom, ordered her to stick out her tongue and then tried to bite it off before raping her.
"He told me I better not go see any cops or he'd kill me," she said.
She picked Grant out of a photo lineup. His parole was revoked and he was eventually sentenced to nine years in prison.
"I consider Mr. Grant to be the worst offender and the facts of this case to be the worst set of facts," said Queen's Bench Justice Perry Schulman.
The new time was added to the existing sentence, meaning his parole was re-calculated and the full sentence wouldn't expire until September 2004.
Grant served every minute of the sentence, as parole was denied based on his continuing rejection of treatment and what the board deemed an "enormous" risk of re-offending.
Grant was released at the end of his sentence but subjected to a peace bond application by Winnipeg police and a public alert through the Community Notification Advisory Committee. Conditions included staying away from children.
The order expired in late 2005, and police issued a second warning to the community.
"Information recently received about Grant has raised concern that his risk to re-offend has increased significantly. All adult females and children (both male and female) are at risk of sexual violence," police said in a release.
Around this time, officers began taking another look at Grant as a potential suspect in Candace Derksen's abduction and killing. Police also began to monitor Grant's movements with regular surveillance under what they called "Project Angel" that would eventually lead to his arrest early Wednesday morning.
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