N.S. man convicted of violent sex offences being released from prison

A Nova Scotia man who kidnapped a teenage boy, chained him in a cabin in the woods then sexually assaulted him and trafficked him to others, is being released from prison.

David James Leblanc was sentenced in June 2013 to more than 10 years in prison for convictions on charges including: sexual interference, distribution of child pornography, kidnapping, forcible confinement, sexual assault and uttering death threats.

Leblanc has reached the statutory release phase of his sentence. All the Parole Board of Canada can do is impose conditions, which it has done following two hearings last month.

In September 2012, Leblanc and another man kidnapped a teenage boy and took him to a cabin in the woods of Lunenburg County.

There, the boy was stripped and chained to the floor and ceiling. Over the course of days, the boy was raped repeatedly.

The boy escaped, but Leblanc and his accomplice, Wayne Cunningham, recaptured him.

Leblanc released once before

Cunningham even arranged for another man to sexually assault the boy. That man, John Leonard MacKean, was convicted of sexually assaulting the boy and sentenced to two years in prison, where he died of natural causes.

When the boy escaped for a second time, Cunningham and Leblanc fled. They ended up in northern Ontario where Cunningham died and Leblanc was found suffering from exposure.

Authorities tried releasing Leblanc in 2020, but he breached his release conditions and was put back in prison.

In a hearing last month, the board noted that Leblanc and Cunningham's victim: "suffered nightmares, memory loss, nerve damage to his hand and permanent scars on his wrists and ankles."

The board also said: "He fears being outside and had recurrent traumatic stress. The victim's mother also provided a statement in which she described the loss of innocence of the victim and her feelings of helplessness at her inability to protect her son from you."

While Corrections Canada must release Leblanc, the parole board still has concerns about "your history of violence, the high level of violence evident in the index offences, and the fact that your offending includes contact and non-contact Schedule 1 offences against children."

Halfway house

In addition to the offences against the teenager, Leblanc was convicted of charges involving a five-year-old boy he knew, including making child pornography.

Leblanc is being released to a halfway house and must return to the facility every night. While the parole board never divulges the names of facilities, Leblanc has been held in a prison in British Columbia and is expected to remain on the West Coast.

He faces a long list of restrictions, including:

• Abstain from drugs and alcohol.
• Not to associate with other known criminals.
• Not to purchase or view pornography.
• Stay off the internet and not possess a device — like a computer — that can access the internet.
• Stay away from schools, parks, swimming pools and other places children frequent.
• Have no contact with children.
• Report all relationships, including intimate partners and men.

The board cautioned Leblanc he could be put back in prison if he breaks any of the conditions.