This 84-year-old Ontario prisoner is still considered a ‘physical and sexual aggression risk’

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McCullough “has an extensive criminal record,” said the decision. “In 1963 he was convicted of two counts each of robbery and break and enter. Following those offences, he purchased a car and fled to Texas but was deported back to Canada and sentenced to 12 years.”

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Mcullough “was paroled in October 1969 and a month later absconded to the United States, where he was convicted of armed robbery in Nevada. He served 18 months in a mental health facility in that state before starting a term of five years to life in Carson City prison, Nevada. He was paroled in 1976 and returned to Canada.”

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McCullough, who was born and raised in Quebec, “reported that illicit drug use began in his 20s. He has spent the majority of his youth and adult years in some form of custodial setting. He has no family support and has not communicated with his family in over 40 years.”

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His April 2025 psychological risk assessment “describes Mr. McCullough as a moderate risk for general, violent, and sexual offence re-offending,” said the decision.

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“The assessment notes that he suffers from serious mental health issues, although he is not receiving regular mental health service intervention or medication. He is described as ‘highly institutionalized.’”

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According to the Parole Board of Canada, “various professionals have assessed McCullough as having a complex personality construct that is rooted in psychopathy and narcissism” and “McCullough’s antisocial values are deeply entrenched into the construct of his personality, which renders change difficult.”

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In the last two years, McCullough exposed himself to staff, for which he was fined $25, and was “involved in nine security incidents,” said the decision.

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On Oct.19, 2024, “during medication delivery, Mr. McCullough continuously attempted to grab at the nurse.”

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He’s been “accused of sexually assaulting an inmate and being sexually inappropriate with another inmate,” said the decision. “A report was received on March 2, 2023, that he had threatened to kill another inmate on his range, but he denied making the threat. He put another inmate in a headlock on June 1, 2023, and minor use of force was used to remove his arm from around the inmate’s neck.”

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His caretakers had to physically handle McCullough to get him back into his cell on Dec. 27, 2023, “when he refused direction to do so,” said the decision.

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“Information was received on February 24, 2024, that Mr. McCullough was telling other inmates that he was receiving oral sex from another inmate at the Regional Treatment Centre at the Bath Institution.”

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McCullough “has recently been diagnosed with Bipolar Affective Disorder — in remission for over 10 years — and has been assessed as having some developing cognitive impairment,” said the decision.

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While McCullough uses a wheelchair and attended the ORB hearing in one, “he is still able to ambulate and engage in sexual activity and physical altercations,” it said.

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His parole officer testified McCullough “would need a great deal of support if living in the community, which halfway houses could not provide. She noted that Mr. McCullough has no plan to live in the community and no community support.”

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His parole officer “considered Mr. McCullough a significant threat to re-offend,” said the decision.

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Lawyers for the hospital and the province “maintained that Mr. McCullough continued to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public and that detention at the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care – Provincial Forensics Program (Ontario’s most secure forensic facility) was appropriate if he were released from federal custody,” said the decision.