PETERBOROUGH, Ont. — The only way society can be protected from Stanley Tippett, a lying, manipulative man who has failed to control his sexual impulses in an escalating pattern of violence is to lock him up — possibly for the rest of his life, a judge said Monday.
Judge Bruce Glass declared Tippett, 35, a dangerous offender and handed him an indeterminate sentence, which means he is in prison indefinitely.
Tippett was convicted in 2009 of seven counts for kidnapping an intoxicated 12-year-old girl, driving her to another town and sexually assaulting her. She was found naked from the waist down behind a school 70 kilometres from where she was abducted in Peterborough. Tippett claimed he offered safe passage to the girl but was then carjacked by two armed men.
The first conviction on Tippett’s record dates all the way back to 1991, when he was convicted of arson for setting fire to books on top of his teacher’s desk. Since then, Tippett has displayed a pattern of aggressive behaviour and flouting his probation orders, Glass said.
“Mr. Tippett is a substantial risk to the community and will continue to be,” he said. “Society can only be protected and not at risk if he is sentenced to an indeterminate term.”
Glass called it a “tragic day for everybody involved,” saying Tippett likely faced much bullying and teasing growing up. Tippett has Treacher Collins syndrome, a rare condition that causes cranial and facial deformities that can affect hearing and speech.
“Nobody is a winner here,” Glass said. “It is a sad event to order that somebody serve an indeterminate sentence as a dangerous offender.”
Testing administered by a forensic psychiatrist found that Tippett has a sexual preference for pre-pubescent girls and boys, Glass said. The psychiatrist suggested that if Tippett were to be released into the community, medication to reduce sex drive would be required. But Glass said he doubted Tippett would take it.
It is “wishful thinking” that Tippett could be treated, he said.
“He will say whatever he thinks he needs to say in order to obtain his release,” Glass said.
Tippett’s other convictions include attempted robbery, for which he was found guilty as a youth in 1993, when he followed a girl off a bus and put a gun to her head.
Tippett was also convicted in June 2005 and December 2005 for two separate counts of criminal harassment. In one incident he was peeping into the windows of a woman’s home and in the other he was trying to convince a young girl he could give her a job at the YMCA, when he didn’t in fact work there.
He also stalked a grocery store cashier at her workplace and followed her to her second job, court heard, but he was not charged with anything.
It was those stalking behaviours that are the most troubling for Staff Sgt. John Lyons of the Peterborough police.
“He showed an obvious ability to study his victims, to find out about them, to follow them, to watch and beset them,” he said outside court. “He took great strides and lengths to determine as much as he could about those people and that to me is what kind of shows how dangerous he could be.”
Tippett will be added to the sex offender registry and is banned from owning weapons, banned from public parks, swimming pools, daycares, schoolyards or anywhere children are likely to congregate. He is also not allowed to seek employment in the future that would put in him a position of authority over someone under 16, and he can’t use a computer to talk to someone under 16.
Tippett’s lawyer, Bob Richardson, said he is disappointed by the decision and anticipates an appeal. Tippett has already filed a notice to appeal his conviction.
As of April 25, 2010, there have been 522 people designated as dangerous offenders since 1978. About three-quarters of them have at least one current conviction for a sexual offence. The latest information is that there are 441 dangerous offenders in the system right now.
Dangerous offenders can first apply for parole after serving seven years.