The man who came to be known as the Bus Stop Rapist while Montreal and Laval police worked to solve who was behind a series of sexual assaults on young female victims is scheduled to leave a federal penitentiary near the beginning of October, even though he was evaluated as still being a high risk of reoffending only a year ago.
Michel Cox, 39, has been imprisoned since 2005 after he received an overall 21-year term for having sexually assaulted eight victims between the ages of 14 and 25 over the course of 21 months. When he was sentenced on Oct. 3, 2005, Cox had 18 years left to serve. He will reach his statutory release date, the two-thirds mark of his sentence, on Oct. 2. The Parole Board of Canada is limited to deciding if an offender should have conditions imposed on his release in such situations.
In Cox’s case, the parole board recently decided to impose eight conditions on the release, including one requiring he reside at a halfway house until his sentence expires in 2023. That condition can be changed in the future. He is also required to inform a parole officer of any relationships he has with a woman and is not allowed to be in the presence of a minor unless accompanied by an adult who is aware of his criminal record. He is also not allowed to possess pornography. Similar conditions can be imposed on Cox for a 10-year period after his sentence expires because he was declared a long-term offender when he was sentenced in 2005.
Between June 13, 2002, and March 6, 2004, Cox sexually assaulted eight female victims between the ages of 14 and 25. Five of the sexual assaults took place in Laval and three were in Montreal.
In the first case, Cox attacked a woman while she was walking through a field in Laval. He tied her hands together, gagged her and covered her head. He tried to assualt the woman, but appeared to stop when she cried. He untied her, but stole items from her purse before leaving. In the months that followed, at least four of his victims were young women who had just gotten off city buses late at night.
The eighth victim, a 24-year-old woman, was approached from behind as she walked along a street. Cox put a knife to her throat and forced her into an alley, where she he bound her wrists and gagged her while she was lying on her stomach. He emptied the contents of her purse, grabbed her Medicare card and then assaulted her. The woman was later able to identify Cox from a series of photos she was shown by police. He was arrested soon after by investigators who had worked together in an investigation dubbed Project Loup, the French word for wolf.
Cox plans to reside at a halfway house that has accepted him as a candidate. The location is not disclosed in a written summary of the parole board’s decision obtained by the Montreal Gazette. He also plans to find full-time work while studying and reconnecting with his family. At least one of the women who was attacked by Cox has expressed serious concerns at the thought of him being released. In May, she sent a letter to the parole board stating she has suffered “innumerable consequences” in her personal and intimate life and dreads the thought of Cox being released.
The summary of the parole board’s decision notes that, as part of an evaluation done sometime in 2016, a psychologist determined Cox is still “a risk of reoffending sexually and still evaluated as a high (risk). The professional mentions the risk of reoffending is sufficiently high to justify maintaining incarceration.” That is a reference to how Correctional Service Canada can recommend an offender remain incarcerated beyond their statutory release date. It’s a measure that is rarely used in Canada’s penitentiary system.
In Cox’s case, Correctional Service Canada determined the risk Cox represents is manageable in a halfway house. The decision appears to have to do with the same psychological evaluation that was completed in 2016. The psychologist noted “he is not convinced the measure (to keep him behind bars) would be necessary in the event you continue (to follow a treatment program for sexual deviance) and demonstrate an adequate management of your problems and emotions as well as your collaboration with your case-management team.”
More recently, his case-management team (the people who help an offender prepare for an eventual release) advised the parole board Cox is in the third stage of a program to treat sexual deviance he started in 2014. He is described as having been transparent with his case workers and “engaged’ in his release plan. He is expected to continue following his therapy program after he is released.
According to statistics held by Public Safety Canada, nearly 1.5 per cent of offenders have reoffended in a violent way while out on a statutory release between 2010 and 2016.
