Man accused of nurse sex assault released from jail days earlier

A homeless Winnipeg man accused of sexually assaulting a nurse in a hospital parkade was released from custody just days earlier in a case that highlights the continuing challenges of dealing with mentally ill repeat offenders.

Twenty-seven-year-old Ermiyas Isaac Dangerfield was arrested Nov. 8 after a nurse was trapped between two cars in the parkade off St. Boniface Hospital and sexually assaulted.

Four days earlier, Dangerfield pleaded guilty to theft and robbery in connection to a series of supermarket shoplifting offences and was sentenced to just under six months time served, six months less than the sentence recommended by the Crown.

“It’s a difficult sentencing,” said provincial court Judge Cynthia Devine. “I’m looking at the time of year, and frankly getting him out — because he’s likely to be in a shelter tonight — before the snow flies and it’s too cold.”

Devine said forensic reports provided to court left her feeling “a little hopeless… to know how the community can assist (him) so that he can have a better life.”

Court heard Dangerfield is from Ethiopia and was adopted by a Winnipeg family when he was four- or five-years old after his mother died as the result of an HIV-related illness.

Dangerfield has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and “struggles with significant mental health concerns,” said his lawyer Adam Hodge.

Dangerfield’s mental state deteriorated as a teenager, and his parents had him admitted to the Manitoba Adolescent Treatment Centre.

“The hallucinations continued to occur and didn’t really go away with medication and treatment,” Hodge said.

Dangerfield’s parents placed him in the care of Child and Family Services when he was 17. He remained with CFS until he was 19, at which time he became a ward of the public trustee.

Dangerfield, who has a history of substance abuse, has remained largely homeless and been in and out of custody for offences including assault with a weapon and robbery.

Last year, Dangerfield was sentenced to four months in jail for two counts of sexual assault. Court heard in one instance, Dangerfield grabbed the buttocks of a woman in Winnipeg Square, in another he approached a woman downtown and tried to sell her a chocolate bar. Dangerfield told the woman “I really like your thighs and butt.” When the woman turned to walk away, he grabbed her buttocks.

Hodge said Dangerfield served several months in custody — the timeline is unclear — on robbery charges that were ultimately stayed. Hodge said Dangerfield was released in the middle of winter “with no planning” and no connection to community resources and lost all of his fingers to frostbite.

Dangerfield has social services supports, but he rarely accesses them and is often hard to find, Hodge said.

“Because of his lifestyle, he has burned bridges at group homes that offer housing to individuals like Mr. Dangerfield,” Hodge said. “Time and time again when Mr. Dangerfield comes into custody, I reach out to his resources and (his workers) and they continue to say they can’t find housing for him.”

Devine sentenced Dangerfield to one year unsupervised probation and urged him to take his medication and stay off street drugs.

“So, no more meth, no more fentanyl, no more crack, because you forget to take your meds… and then there is trouble,” she said.

Dangerfield remains in custody on his latest charges. His next court date is Dec. 22.

Dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca