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HUNTER: High-risk warnings don’t answer big question: Why are these guys out?

Dangerous offender Simon Gares is a prince of a man. Read More 

If he’s so much of a threat to potentially unleash violence on women and children, why release him?

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Dangerous offender Simon Gares is a prince of a man.

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He goes to prison, comes out, breaches, returns to prison, and then, like a phoenix, soars back into our communities. Rinse and repeat.

Gares, 43, has been sprung again on statutory release and must reside in a Toronto community-based residential facility, cops said in a press release. He is a dangerous offender and subject to a long-term supervision order.

Cops say Gares is a risk to the community and children, and Toronto Police are concerned enough to release his photo with a warning to the public.

Simon Gares, 43, who was convicted of assault causing bodily harm in 2019 and deemed to be a “dangerous offender for kicking a five-year-old boy, was released from prison on a statutory release on March 14, 2025.
Simon Gares, 43, who was convicted of assault causing bodily harm in 2019 and deemed to be a dangerous offender for kicking a five-year-old boy, was released from prison on a statutory release on March 14, 2025. Photo by Handout /Toronto Police

He was convicted in 2019 of kicking a five-year-old child entering a bakery with their mom and brother. And that was it: A hall of fame Dangerous Offender tag.

So, the question is: If he’s a danger to the public, particularly kids, why is he out? Gares is just one of a slew of bad guys released with the unusual high-risk offender alert.

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Keith Theodore Constantin’s taste of freedom on the streets of Oshawa was but fleeting. The high-risk sex offender is back behind bars less than a week after being sprung from prison.

Durham Regional Police issued a community safety alert warning that Constantin, 45, would be in the house and asking residents to be “vigilant” because the convicted sex offender “poses a significant risk to the community, especially children.”

Constantin, 45, was released after serving his sentence for breaching a court order. Now, cops say he has breached again.

One’s crimes have to be fairly egregious to get the scarlet letter treatment in Canada, but Constantin is just such a guy.

The violent sex offender was released from prison in July 2014 after five years, but in the space of a few weeks he was run out of town in Hamilton. He had been convicted of sexually assaulting a seven-year-old boy and a 45-year-old blind woman.

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Constantin’s roster of convictions includes sexual assault with a weapon, assault, robbery, possession of explosives, and multiple violations of probation orders.

The question remains about guys like Constantin and others of his ilk: If he’s so dangerous, so much of a threat to potentially unleash violence on women and children, why release him?

Nooradin Farah
Nooradin Farah. Photo by Edmonton Police

Edmonton Police also issued a warning Monday, regarding Nooradin Farah. Cops fear the 36-year-old will commit another crime of violence sooner rather than later. Before being sent to the slammer, Farah reportedly physically assaulted or killed people.

Some were strangers, others were known to him. And now, he’s back. It’s the second time in as many years cops have issued a warning about Farah.

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Medhani Yohans, 35, is also in the band, and the high-risk offender is also back in custody for breaching his probation order. Police in Guelph raised the red flag, issuing a public warning citing his long history of violence.

Medhani Yohans
Medhani Yohans Photo by Guelph Police

That included two sexual assaults on strangers.

Cops said in a release: “Yohans poses a risk to the community, particularly to women, and (we) are concerned that he may commit similar offences in the future.”

Guelph Police have suggested that they don’t believe Yohans should be sprung again. But this is Canada, and when you’re a violent criminal and dealing with the judiciary, well, hope springs eternal.

Mercredi
DANGEROUS OFFENDER: Louis Ted Mercredi, 42. Photo by RCMP

The RCMP also recently issued a high-risk offender alert for Louis Ted Mercredi, 42.

Designated a Dangerous Offender, his CV includes violent sexual offences. Prospects slim, police said: “He has not made any progress in reducing his high risk of re-offend violently. At prior sentencing, he was designated as a dangerous offender and was given a long-term supervision order for ten years.”

And yet, here we are. Again.

bhunter@postmedia.com

@HunterTOSun

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