REGINA – A violent repeat offender designated a dangerous offender, will face a new sentencing hearing after Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal ruled that the original judge underestimated the threat he poses to the public.
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal granted Crown prosecutor Erin Bartsch’s request and ordered a new sentencing hearing for Blue Kevin Keenan Meetoos.
The sentencing judge “did not conduct the necessary analysis at the penalty stage regarding prospective treatment options and community control mechanisms to determine if Mr. Meetoos can be controlled in the community in a manner that adequately protects the public from his violently reoffending,” said Justice Liam M. Schwann in his July 30 written decision. Justice Naheed Bardai and Justice Keith D. Kilback were in agreement.
Meetoos was convicted of assault causing bodily harm, uttering death threats, mischief, and intimidation of a justice official.
Court documents reveal Meetoos was convicted after a campaign of terror against two women working in the correctional system when they tried to end their intimate relationships with him.
Intimate relationship with Regina correctional officer
In August and September 2019, Meetoos terrorized Regina correctional officer Brandy Luce, a woman he had dated while incarcerated at the Community Training Residence, a correctional facility in Regina, court heard.
Shortly after Meetoos arrived at the correctional facility, he and Luce started a relationship that continued after his release.
According to court documents, Meestoos “was very abusive toward her, but she was reluctant to report it to the police because she feared employment repercussions if their relationship became known to her employer.”
When she tried to end her relationship with Meetoos, he threatened to reveal their relationship to her employer and disclose intimate images. He threatened to “take her hostage,” and told her she “deserved to die.”
Police got a production order for the release of phone recordings made by Meetoos from the Regina Correctional Centre between Aug. 23, 2019, and Sept. 26, 2019, court heard. In those recordings, Meeetoos continually pressed Luce to drop the charges and recant her statement to police.
During one call, Meetoos said to Luce, “If they send me to the Pen and stuff like that, I will become an animal and I will give up and everything. They will release me back out and I’m not going to be the same person again. I’ll be like [expletive] this world, [expletive] everybody, and I will be going after everybody that [expletive] put me away.”
Intimate relationship with Regina jail staff
In 2018, while Meetoos was at the Regina Correctional Centre, he dated Nicole Diewold, a kitchen staff member. It started with him passing notes to her and it escalated into an intimate relationship. Their relationship continued after he was released from jail.
When she tried to end the relationship in June 2019, he began threatening her.
Then, on Aug. 3, 2019, she woke up when she was struck on the head by a chunk of cement that had smashed through her bedroom window. When police arrived, they noticed the basement window had been broken, as was the window on the driver’s side of her car.
Criminal background
Meetoos’s criminal history spans many years, according to court documents. It includes convictions for sexual interference, sexual assault, assaults with a weapon, aggravated assaults, common assaults, obstruction, robbery, and mischief.
A forensic psychiatric report by Dr. Alberto Choy revealed that Meetoos was a high risk to reoffend violently and sexually, diagnosing him with antisocial personality disorder, psychopathic traits, and a history of manipulating those around him.
Despite completing some prison programs, Meetoos showed no genuine remorse, and a pattern of exploiting relationships for control.
Corrections staff testified he was habitually disruptive, manipulative, and untrustworthy.
Matter sent back to Court of King’s Bench
The original sentencing judge designated Meetoos a dangerous offender and handed him eight years in prison plus 10 years of supervision, saying it was enough to keep the public safe.
The Crown appealed, arguing that the sentencing judge failed to properly apply the legal test regarding whether a lesser sentence would adequately protect the public. The appeal court agreed and sent the case back to the Court of King’s Bench for a new sentencing hearing.
Meetoos remains in a federal prison.
