Isaac Moffat-Swasson dangerous offender designation request in Quebec, Digi Mart USA News (Quebec, Canada): A prisoner described as a psychopath by an expert report could spend the rest of his life behind bars if the Crown’s request succeeds. Isaac Moffat-Swasson, 37, became known for wrecking the New Carlisle prison in 2019.
At the time, he was being held awaiting trial for brutally attacking two people in Listuguj, his home community. After trials held in Quebec City for security reasons, he was found guilty of the Listuguj assault and of the damage at the prison.
The Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales (DPCP) is now asking that he be declared a dangerous offender. Prosecutor Fabien Villemaire argued Monday that public protection is the primary consideration and that an indeterminate sentence is needed to neutralize the risk the accused poses.
In February 2019, Moffat-Swasson and accomplices beat two men they had met earlier at a bar over a dispute about a lost cellphone. The victims were also confined in a residence in Listuguj, where the accused held a hunting knife to the throat of one victim, who was terrified.
The other man was beaten with fists and feet, suffering fractures to his nose and ribs after losing consciousness. To ensure their silence, Moffat-Swasson threatened to kill their families if they spoke to police.
The DPCP’s application before Judge Annie Trudel relies on a report by Dr. Marc-André Lamontagne-Laflamme of the Philippe-Pinel National Institute of Forensic Psychiatry.
According to the report, he has been dangerous since childhood, a period marked by a violent family environment.
According to court documents, Moffat-Swasson allegedly set fire to his family’s home at age 10. Too young to face charges, as the minimum age is 12, he was directed to psychiatric resources.
He nonetheless entered criminal life as a teenager.
He received his heaviest prison sentence in 2013, more than five years for aggravated assault after striking a man in the head with a hammer. The Listuguj events occurred just three months after his release from penitentiary.
On a scale measuring psychopathic traits, Moffat-Swasson scored 33, above the threshold of 30 used to classify someone as a psychopath. His score is higher than 94% of North American prisoners in the comparison sample, Dr.
Lamontagne-Laflamme noted.
The psychologist wrote that his clinical impressions are corroborated by risk assessment tools, all indicating a risk of criminal and violent reoffending well above average, and that he shows more psychopathic traits and a higher reoffending risk than 9 in 10 offenders.
The expert also describes him as a manipulative talker who offers often improbable but convincing versions to excuse his actions, which calls for caution about the sincerity of his statements. Because of his tendency to minimize the seriousness of his crimes, the professional sees a bleak prognosis for him giving up violent behavior.
After wrecking the New Carlisle prison in 2019, causing more than $50,000 in damage, Moffat-Swasson continued to cause problems for prison authorities. He is suspected of being the instigator of a hostage-taking at Bordeaux prison in Montreal in October 2023, in which a fellow inmate was held for nearly four hours.
He also taunts the system on social media. Using a smuggled cellphone, he regularly posts on TikTok, sharing videos filmed in detention to comment on his daily life behind bars.
The prosecution argues that the 30-something has accumulated 13 convictions for violent crimes since 2006 and still faces several pending charges for violent acts committed in detention. According to the DPCP, this record demonstrates recurring, uncontrollable violence, justifying long-term public protection.
Prosecutor Villemaire added that Moffat-Swasson is unable to follow the rules inside prison, asking how he could be expected to follow them outside.
If Judge Trudel grants the Crown’s request and imposes an indeterminate detention sentence, Moffat-Swasson could never leave prison. To regain his freedom, he would have to convince the Parole Board of Canada that he no longer poses a danger to society.
After being represented by several lawyers since the start of proceedings, Louis Belliard now defends his interests in Quebec City. The defense opposes the Crown’s application and argues instead that the court should give him a chance at social reintegration.
Belliard noted that his client has spent most of his life behind bars, a hostile environment where he mainly fought to survive. The prison is an aggressive environment.
That is not where one learns to live, the lawyer argued, adding that the system never truly offered the accused any tools. It was never done.
They only punished him and it didn’t work, he concluded.
Judge Trudel has taken the matter under advisement and will deliver her decision in February.
