Repeat sex offender Jody Matthew Burke, who says he wants to change his sex since being convicted of hyper-violent sexual assaults on his ex-wife, has launched a campaign from prison on Facebook and Instagram to expose a manager who allegedly refused her transfer to a women’s prison.
Burke, who now wishes to call himself Amber, created a Facebook page in early February, presumably through a contraband phone he has access to at the Montreal Detention Facility (Bordeaux). He is being held there pending his sentence on Wednesday, notably for armed sexual assault and death threats against his ex-spouse, Brigitte Jobin, whom he beat and forced to have sex with a knife to her throat.
On February 13, Burke used this Facebook account to contact Ms. Jobin from prison, “liking” one of her posts.
“It angered me deeply,” says Ms. Jobin. “It’s just to provoke me. He wanted me to know he got himself a Facebook account, it was very calculated,” she adds.
“I’ve had insomnia every night for a month while I’m awaiting sentencing. He is already preparing his next life on Facebook and Instagram, ”laments Ms. Jobin.
“What shakes me the most is that he poses as a victim on the networks,” adds the 36-year-old woman.
The situation nevertheless forced the Crown to ask the Superior Court to prohibit Burke from contacting Ms. Jobin, at the end of February.
Last week, days away from his sentence, Burke made further statements, this time posting a selfie as a “story” on Instagram. Burke appears there with a black dress, along with three other individuals.
According to the president of the Syndicat des agents de la paix en services correctionnels du Québec (SAPSCQ-CSN), Mathieu Lavoie, the place where the photo was taken “resembles a prison cell quite convincingly”. “It could be Bordeaux or Rivière-des-Prairies,” he confirms.
Burke also posted a message on Facebook specifically targeting a manager at the Montreal detention center, whom he blames for refusing to transfer him to a women’s prison because he has not to date initiated any change procedures. of sex. “Justin Trudeau, according to his policy, says I qualify,” Burke argued, indicating that “now is the time” to file a complaint.
“Being a trans woman held in a men’s prison was very difficult because of the oppression,” Burke adds in another post.
The Ministry of Public Security, questioned by La Presse about this publication, says that it is carrying out checks to “trace the thread of events”. Posting a manager’s name on social media “is not considered a threat, but could be considered intimidation,” spokeswoman Louise Quintin said.
“Minister [François] Bonnardel [responsible for Public Security] must react, insists Mathieu Lavoie, of SAPSCQ-CSN. One day, it may be photos of correctional officers that will be released. This is part of the intimidation tactics incarcerated people use against prison staff,” he laments.
Already convicted twice for similar violent assaults against two other ex-spouses, Burke will most likely be transferred to a federal penitentiary once his sentence is announced. Under a policy formalized last May by the Correctional Service of Canada, all federal inmates can request to be incarcerated in the type of institution “that best matches their gender identity or expression”, regardless of whether or not they have started sex change procedures. Only “overriding health or safety concerns” can justify a refusal.
La Presse attempted to obtain comments from Burke’s lawyer, Me Véronique Talbot, but she did not call back.
The Criminal Code provides no penalties for inmates caught using cell phones in prison. Rather, it is the institution’s Rules of Procedure that apply, which provides for disciplinary penalties. “In general, in provincial prisons, the managers impose isolation, specifies Me Sylvie Bordelais, vice-president of the Association of lawyers and lawyers in prison law of Quebec. The maximum is 30 days, but that depends on the managers’ imagination. They can split the same incident into several different events,” she says.
