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Disturbing tale of abuse

An Ontario man who carried out increasingly violent sex crimes against children and animals for close to a decade before a teenage victim reported him to police must be locked up indefinitely to protect the community, a judge ruled Wednesday in declaring him a dangerous offender.

From the age of 14 until his arrest three years ago at 22, Shayne Lund "was engaged in sexual predatory behaviour towards infants, young children, adolescents, older teens, women and animals," Justice Joseph Kenkel said in his decision.

Lund, now 25, was "obsessed entirely with his own deviant sexual fantasies and adept at manipulating and controlling others to assist him in his gratification," including two girlfriends he recruited to help him find children to sexually assault, the judge said.

"He's been unable to restrain his behaviours and his conduct has become increasingly more dangerous over time," said Kenkel. "His offences have resulted in severe psychological harm to his young and vulnerable victims."

"There will never be a time when it will be safe to release Mr. Lund in the community" without extensive treatment, including medication to reduce his sex drive, and rigorous supervision to ensure he never comes into contact with anyone under 18 years old, he said.

Lund, who is the son of an Ontario Provincial Police constable, can apply for parole in four years. He must submit DNA to the national databank.

Outside court, defence lawyer Eginhart Ehlers said it was clear from the evidence that Lund is "a predator" who committed "heinous offences" against children, and that the community must be protected from that kind of behaviour.

"He started with accessing child pornography on the Internet ... and that's how Mr. Lund started this process and then eventually lost control of himself," he said.

Ehlers also questioned why Internet providers allow access to child pornography, saying it should "simply be banned."

Lund pleaded guilty to 35 charges involving 14 victims, including sexually assaulting and conspiring to sexually assault children, bestiality, and making child pornography.

Court has heard Lund convinced his girlfriends, one of whom worked in early childhood education, to help him find and lure potential victims, some as young as two years old. Both women were sentenced as long-term offenders after pleading guilty to 11 charges.

He also discussed a plan to have children with one of his girlfriends so that he could then have sex with those children, the court heard.

Lund was arrested in 2013 when a 15-year-old girl told officers she'd had sex with the then-22-year-old.

The girl told police that during her three-week relationship with Lund, he had also recorded their sex acts, encouraged her to film her nine-year-old sister nude and asked her to teach her sister to perform sex acts on him.



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