Https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14030873/tara-desousa-transgender-pedophile-jail-release.html
Executive summary
Tara Desousa — born Adam Laboucan — is a federally incarcerated person in Canada who was sentenced as a dangerous offender for the 1997 sexual assault of a three‑month‑old in Quesnel and has since sought escorted temporary absences and parole; recent coverage shows a 2024 application to Federal Court after a prison decision denied escorted leave and a 2024–2025 pattern of parole denials and appeals [1] [2] [3]. Reporting notes she underwent gender‑affirming surgery while serving an indeterminate sentence, that the Parole Board has repeatedly cited risk factors including sexual deviance and access to children, and that some reports record an earlier admission of drowning a three‑year‑old when she was 11, which predated criminal responsibility [4] [2] [1].
1. Who is Tara Desousa and what was she convicted of?
Tara Desousa, formerly known in reporting as Adam Laboucan, was 17 when she was handed an indeterminate dangerous‑offender sentence after the sexual assault of a three‑month‑old boy in Quesnel in 1997; that offence is the basis for the dangerous‑offender designation reported across multiple outlets [4] [5] [3]. Sources say she later changed her name and now identifies as female; reporting consistently ties both names to the same case and sentence [4] [5].
2. What is the recent legal and parole history?
In 2024 Desousa applied to Federal Court to overturn a Fraser Valley Institution decision that denied her escorted temporary absences; that application followed prison authorities refusing escorted leave to attend ceremonies at a women’s healing centre, according to court filings reported in November 2024 [1] [2] [6]. Parole decisions have repeatedly denied release — for example, the Parole Board refused full or day parole in earlier reviews citing high risk — and reporting through 2024–2025 shows continued denials and subsequent appeals of parole decisions [4] [3] [5].
3. What reasons do officials give for denying leave or parole?
Parole‑board and institutional documents cited in press accounts list a complex mix of risk factors: gender‑identity issues, impulsive behaviour, violence, sexual deviance, institutional behaviour concerns, and warnings that risk of reoffending would increase if Desousa had access to children or substances. Those risk assessments underpinned refusals of both day parole and escorted temporary absences [4] [3] [1].
4. What additional background does reporting provide about her childhood and treatment?
Journalists report that Desousa was a severe victim of childhood abuse, bullied at school, diagnosed with several disorders, and exhibited violent and sexual behaviour as a child; some sources say she admitted to drowning a three‑year‑old when she was 11 but that act fell below criminal responsibility at the time, and therefore did not generate a conviction [1] [2]. Reporting also notes she underwent gender‑affirming operations while serving her indeterminate sentence [2] [1].
5. How do outlets frame the intersection of gender identity and risk?
Coverage varies but many parole documents and older reporting explicitly linked gender identity and related behaviour to assessed risk; the Parole Board’s 2010 review, cited by CBC, stated gender‑identity confusion appeared throughout reviews and was among factors the board considered when refusing release [4]. Other pieces emphasize clinical, criminal‑history and institutional behaviour information as part of the risk matrix rather than presenting gender identity alone as the sole determinant [3] [1].
6. What are the missing pieces and limits of current reporting?
Available sources do not provide the full Federal Court filings or the institution’s detailed security assessments in publicly releasable form, nor do they include direct statements from Desousa beyond the legal representative’s filings, and some pieces note the lawyer declined comment [6] [1]. Sources do not mention the precise medical records of gender‑affirming care nor the full reasoning text of the most recent Parole Board decisions beyond summarized conclusions [2] [3].
7. Why this story generates controversy and how to read competing claims
This case touches on volatile issues: sexual violence against children, indefinite dangerous‑offender sentencing, risk assessment, and transgender identity in corrections. Some reporting highlights public safety concerns and parole board rationales [4] [3]; other pieces foreground childhood trauma and treatment attempts, including requests for healing‑centre access and legal challenges to refuse‑leave decisions [1] [2]. Readers should note institutional risk assessments are cited repeatedly as the basis for denials, while advocates or legal filings may emphasize rehabilitative needs — both perspectives appear in available reporting [1] [3].
8. Bottom line for readers
The publicly available reporting shows Desousa remains an indeterminately sentenced dangerous offender with a documented history of denials for parole and escorted leave grounded in assessed risk to children and concerns about institutional behaviour; she has pursued legal avenues to challenge those denials [4] [1] [3]. For deeper evaluation, readers must review the actual Parole Board and Federal Court documents, which are not reproduced in full in the articles cited here [1] [2].