Police Issue Public Warning After Repeat Child Sex Offender Released in Southern Ontario

A southern Ontario police department has issued an alert about the release of a high-risk sex offender with a history of convictions for sexual assaults against children and women spanning more than two decades.

The Durham Regional Police Service published a safety bulletin over the long weekend to warn the public about 48-year-old Keith Theodore Constantin being “released into the community” on Oct. 11.

Constantin has been described by police as a “significant risk to the community, especially children,” but the alert did not say which city he would be living in.

Durham police cover a large region that includes Oshawa, Whitby, Pickering, Ajax, and several surrounding townships. The RCMP database for high-risk child sex offenders lists his place of residence as Oshawa.

“This individual has a history of serious criminal convictions,” Durham police said in the alert. “Police are asking the public to stay vigilant and remain aware of their surroundings.”

Constantin is under round-the-clock electronic monitoring and the Durham police offender management unit will also be tracking his “whereabouts and activities,” the advisory said.

Constantin was in custody following his arrest last March for allegedly violating his release conditions after just two days in the community, police said in a press release at the time. Durham police also warned of his release in a May 2024 advisory.

He has a history of sexual assault and sexual assault with a weapon, assault and assault with a weapon, robbery, possession of explosives and uttering threats, and multiple violations of probation orders, police said.

Sex Assaults Date Back to 2000

Constantin was sentenced in 2000 for two armed robberies and two sexual assaults—one involving a seven-year-old boy he lured to a park and the other targeting a 45-year-old blind woman residing in his apartment building, according to a 2014 report by The Hamilton Spectator.

He sexually assaulted a woman in a basement apartment of his parents’ Hamilton home on Sept. 9, 2007, according to a Spectator report from 2009. The report said he punched her in the chest and head, threatened her with a knife, and attempted to restrain her by binding her wrists with wire.

Constantin was set to stand trial in 2009 on charges including sexual assault with a weapon, assault with a weapon, and breach of a peace bond in connection with the incident but the proceedings were halted when the 27-year-old experienced severe seizures triggered by trial-related stress. He was hospitalized and placed on suicide watch.

He agreed to a plea arrangement that resulted in an eight-year prison sentence. He received credit for time served in pretrial custody and was released in Hamilton in 2014.

Constantin told a Hamilton court during a 2014 hearing that he was taking a chemical castration drug and no longer posed a serious risk to the community, according to a Spectator report at the time.

The Parole Board of Canada disagreed, and emphasized Constantin’s persistent “urges of reoffending against children and young women and that (he) has thoughts of killing,” according to a decision obtained by The Spectator.

The parole board documents listed an array of diagnoses: alcohol and drug addiction, paranoid schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, functioning within an extremely low intellectual range, and personality traits linked to psychopathy.

The documents also indicated he caused issues during his incarceration by throwing urine and feces at correctional officers. He also threatened suicide with a razor blade.

This behaviour resulted in him being placed in maximum security facilities and in segregation, caused the discontinuation of his mental health support services, and led to his removal from prison educational and rehabilitation programs, the documents said.

Police did not say when Constantin relocated to the Durham region.

Concerns Raised

His release over the Thanksgiving weekend prompted Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter to issue a statement that both thanked local police for its advisory but also voiced concern about a violent repeat offender residing in the region.

“Residents have every right to be concerned when repeat and violent offenders are released back into our communities, and it is unacceptable that communities are being burdened by repeat and violent offenders,” Carter said. “Community safety must remain our highest priority.”

Whitby Mayor Elizabeth Roy issued a statement noting that Constantin is being released because he has completed the sentence imposed by the court.

“Municipal councils and local police services do not have the authority to change a sentence or extend it once it has been served,” said the mayor whose city borders Oshawa. “Criminal sentencing is a federal government issue. I will be meeting with our local MPs and MPP to share the concerns our community has raised.”

Constantin is subject to a range of conditions tied to his high-risk release peace bond, including wearing a GPS monitoring device “at all times,” reporting to Durham police weekly, and abiding by a 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. curfew.

He faces restrictions preventing him from associating or communicating with minors younger than 16 and cannot participate in any activities that involve contact with anyone under that age. He can visit public spaces frequented by children, but must always be accompanied by an adult.

He is also prohibited from having a relationship with anyone who has children younger than 16 and cannot be in possession of weapons, consume alcohol or drugs, or use the internet.

Police said “any suspicious or dangerous behaviour should be reported” to them immediately.