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Sexual predator declared dangerous offender

A notorious sexual predator will be off Yellowknife streets indefinitely.

Bobby Zoe, 36, was declared a dangerous offender in Supreme Court last Thursday by Alberta-based deputy Justice J. Richard McIntosh. That means he will be incarcerated for an indeterminate amount of time at a southern prison.

Bobby Zoe, seen leaving the Yellowknife Courthouse in 2016, has been declared a dangerous offender and sent to prison indefinitely. He will have to serve at least seven years before being able to apply for parole after his third sexual assault conviction. NNSL file photo.

 

Zoe was convicted last year of break and enter and sexual assault for an incident in February 2015. He had been in custody at the North Slave Correctional Centre (NSCC) since his arrest for that crime almost three years ago. It was his third sexual assault conviction.

Zoe was found guilty of sneaking into an apartment bedroom downtown and touching a female, not known to him, as she slept in her bed with her partner asleep beside her.

The man awoke to her screams and chased Zoe out of the apartment and into a stairwell where they struggled before Zoe escaped with cash taken from the residence.

That attack came about a month after Zoe had been released from NSCC after serving time for a home invasion in Old Town in October 2013.

Zoe was also convicted in 2012 of a brutal sex assault on a 23-year-old woman – a complete stranger to him – who was attacked while walking alone on 53 Street in January 2011.

Zoe was sentenced to 39 months for that assault but was released early for good behaviour.

He was convicted of sexual assault in Yellowknife in 2005 and received a suspended sentence and six months probation. Zoe was handed a 15-month jail term after he was convicted of a 2009 sexual interference charge.

After the 2015 attack, RCMP changed its policy to warn the public about the pending release of sex offenders when they deem the person is at risk to re-offend.

Zoe, who was dressed in a long-sleeve, NSCC-issued t-shirt and jeans, sat in the prisoners' dock throughout the proceedings. He did not seem to grasp the severity of his sentence.

“What just happened?” a bewildered Zoe asked his Edmonton-based lawyer Steven Fix after the court proceedings Thursday.

The designation followed a dangerous offender hearing that began back in July.

Fix had conceded in court that Zoe was a dangerous offender but argued he should receive an eight-year prison term followed by 10 years of supervision. Fix declined to comment after the decision.

Crown attorney Blair McPherson said Zoe met the criteria for dangerous offender status and said he was satisfied the judge sentenced Zoe to an indeterminate amount of time in prison.

“The judge agreed with the Crown's position ... that (dangerous offender) status was reasonable in the unfortunate circumstances Mr. Zoe finds himself in with four (sexual offence-related) convictions,” McPherson said after the hearing. “When an individual finds himself in the dangerous offender category which Mr. Zoe finds himself in then protection of the public is the paramount sentencing consideration. This was a sad case all around.”

According to Public Safety Canada, Zoe will now incarcerated indefinitely with no chance of parole for at least seven years.

At his hearing, two medical experts, one called to testify by the Crown, the other by the defence, agreed that Zoe was at risk to re-offend.

Zoe was also placed on the sexual offender registry and ordered to give a sample of his DNA for the national registry. He was prohibited from owning a firearm for ten years upon his release from prison.

Court heard Zoe was born in Yellowknife, adopted at an early and grew up in a loving home in Tlicho community of Gameti.

According to an official from the Crown's office, Zoe suffered a head injury during an industrial accident some years ago.

It is not clear exactly which southern prison Zoe will begin serving his time.

 

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Bobby Zoe, seen leaving the Yellowknife Courthouse in 2016, has been declared a dangerous offender and sent to prison indefinitely. He will have to serve at least seven years before being able to apply for parole after his third sexual assault conviction. NNSL file photo.