Jamie Sarkonak: How a Jamaican man remained in Canada years after robbing sex workers

An Air Canada plane takes off at Pearson International Airport on August 14, 2025 in Toronto, Canada. Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images

Article content

In 2019, Jamaican national Dwayne Marlon Douglas committed a number of vile acts. He held a gun to the head of a sex worker as three of his male companions took turns having sex with her; then, he had his way too.

Article content

Days after that, he pistol-whipped a man with an imitation handgun, stole his phone and other valuables, and threatened to kill him if he reported the robbery to police. He also robbed a female erotic masseuse in a stairwell around the same time, stealing $4,300 worth of items; after she reported the crime, he told her she was in “trouble.” He also distributed nude photographs of his girlfriend for money without her consent.

Article content

Article content

Article content

He was convicted of all of these crimes in 2021 and 2022, but because criminal courts go easy on non-citizens, and because the immigration system offers what feels like endless off-ramps to deportation, he was still in Canada as of January.

Article content

Article content

It took until 2025 for immigration officials to issue a removal order against Douglas on the basis that he was inadmissible to Canada for serious criminality. He was able to appeal this because no judge had ever given him a sentence of over six months’ jail (had he received such a sentence, he would have lost that right to appeal). The appeal, however, was unsuccessful: in January, the adjudicator for his case rejected his request to remain in-country for “humanitarian and compassionate” reasons — a good call, but one that shouldn’t have had to be made in the first place. The man should have been excised from Canada the moment he got out of jail.

Article content

Douglas was a permanent resident who arrived in Canada in 2006 at the age of six. We will never have the privilege of knowing whether he committed crimes as a youth: in Canada, such information is off limits. It didn’t take long for him to rack up adult charges after turning 18, however.

Article content

Article content

The immigration appeal adjudicator summarized his sentence history: for his terrifying group assault of a sex worker in a hotel room, he received a sentence of only six months in prison less a day. For distributing nude photographs without consent, he received 12 months’ probation (and had spent three months in jail pre-conviction). For robbing the erotic masseuse, he received a 12-month suspended sentence, meaning no jail (though he had also spent three months in jail prior to conviction).

Article content

It’s unclear whether Douglas’ lack of citizenship played a part in these lenient sentences, but it certainly helped cut down his pistol-whipping-plus-robbery sentence, which ended up being just under six months:

Article content

“Although the Crown sought a 12-month jail sentence, (Douglas) was sentenced to six months less a day because of the immigration consequences that a longer sentence would have,” noted the immigration appeal adjudicator. “The judge considered humanitarian and compassionate factors in arriving at this disposition.”

Article content

The adjudicator also noted Douglas’ in-custody record, which also demonstrated a tendency for violence: “He was found guilty of nine institutional misconducts between October 2020 and December 2021. Most involved physical altercations with adult male inmates.”