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Fort McPherson's Johnny Simon deemed a long-term offender

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Yellowknife courthouse. NNSL file photo.

A Fort McPherson man convicted of more than a dozen crimes including three sexual assaults was declared a long-term offender Oct. 23.

NWT Supreme Court Justice Louise Charbonneau noted that alcohol is a common factor in the crimes Johnny Jeffry Simon has been convicted of.

NWT Supreme Court Justice Louise Charbonneau noted that alcohol is a common factor in the crimes Johnny Jeffry Simon has been convicted of.
NNSL file photo

Johnny Simon was convicted of sexual assault in 2001, 2007 and 2018.

He also has been convicted of 11 other charges including assault, assault with a weapon, breaking and entering and theft.

Simon prior to his latest conviction has also previously undertaken sex offender programming and Charbonneau while making his decision said that Simon “has had step backs” that it was “again while intoxicated.”

Simon's overall sentence was six years, four months. He has two years and five months left to serve and will be under long-term supervision for five years after his release. Simon must submit a DNA sample to the national registry.

Charbonneau during the decision process acknowledged the underlying family trauma which led to Simon's lifestyle of substance abuse and wide variety of criminal offences. Simon was sexually abused by his grandfather for over a decade until he was 18 years old and his mother was stabbed to death when he was 14. Simon's grandfather had attended residential school.

However she added she cannot ignore the responsibility of protecting the public even though she understands Simon's background.

Given his most recent charge in 2018, Charbonneau concluded that Simon still has a high risk of re-offending even though he has undertaken sex offender programming following his prior convictions.

Charbonneau also said that Simon will have a higher priority for access to programming given the amount of time he has left in his sentence.

“Mr. Simon should probably never touch alcohol again,” Charbonneau said. “I hope you would be able to access the help that you need.”