Serial rapist who refuses treatment to be locked up indefinitely, judge orders

An Ontario judge has ordered a serial rapist jailed indefinitely, saying the man's refusal to receive treatment for his violent sexual urges means he is likely to harm more women if released into the community.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy imposed the sentence last week after designating Andrew Medford as a dangerous offender, a label applied to Canada's most dangerous violent and sexual predators.

The 28-year-old Toronto man was convicted in 2016 of multiple charges, including sexual assault and assault, in two separate court cases involving violent sexual assaults against two women.

In one case in October 2013, he choked a woman until she performed oral sex on him, then broke into her home weeks later to attack and rape her repeatedly at knifepoint.

DNA evidence linked Medford to 2011 incident

Court documents say DNA evidence in that case later linked him to a 2011 incident in which he raped another woman at knifepoint and choked her until she became unconscious.

The documents say a forensic psychiatrist who assessed Medford found he has a "sexual paraphilic disorder," likely sexual sadism, and shows a strong preference for "coercive sex with violence."

While there is no cure for sexual paraphilia, Medford's denial of his condition and his refusal to be treated for it suggest "his deviant conduct will continue unabated, and likely escalate, if he is released into the community," Molloy wrote in a ruling released on Sept. 11.

"He prefers coercive sex to sex with a willing and consenting partner. He is likely also a sexual sadist and, if not, at the very least is sexually stimulated by violence against women. He has demonstrated a failure to control those impulses," the judge wrote.

"If he does not accept treatment and learn how to place internal controls on his behaviour, then external controls are the only way to manage the risk."

Graphic warning: The following details may disturb some readers

At his first trial, court heard Medford had known the complainant for about a year when he sexually assaulted her in her apartment.

He first asked her to perform oral sex and when she refused, he grabbed her by the throat and pushed her against the couch to the point where she felt she could not breathe, court documents say.

She then performed oral sex under duress, making several attempts to stop, while Medford secretly recorded the incident on his cellphone, the documents say. When he grabbed her by the throat again, she fought back and he left her apartment.

Believing he would not return, the woman did not call police, court documents say. But weeks later, in the early hours of Nov. 24, 2013, Medford forced his way into her apartment, beating and sexually assaulting her "in numerous horrific ways over an extended period of time," the judge wrote.

He threw her on a table, punched her in the face, and choked her until she became unconscious, the documents say. He then made her remove her clothes and perform oral sex at knifepoint, again recording the assault, they say.

Medford then raped her despite her attempts to fight back, court heard.

At one point, the woman grabbed the hand in which Medford held the knife and he pulled the knife back through her hand, badly cutting her fingers, court heard. Medford left quickly afterwards but threatened to sexually assault the woman's daughter if she told police.

After his arrest, his DNA was entered into a database, where it matched with samples taken in a 2011 attack on another woman, the documents say. The assailant in that incident had not previously been identified.

Second trial

In a second trial, court heard an acquaintance Medford ran into at a bar agreed to perform oral sex on him in exchange for money.

The encounter, which took place in a carport next to a seniors' home, began consensually but Medford quickly became violent, court documents say.

That woman attempted to return his money and walk away but Medford pulled out a knife and threatened her, then raped her and choked her until she lost consciousness, the documents read.

The woman's screams prompted a bystander to call 911 and Medford fled when someone yelled at him.