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CTV News
03-07-2025
- CTV News
‘He wreaked havoc': Serial romance fraudster labelled dangerous offender
Jeffery Paul Kent, seen in a screen grab from the TV show Scammed, was given an indeterminate sentence and deemed a dangerous offender after a string of romance scams going back nearly a decade. An Edmonton man has been labelled a dangerous offender – a designation given to Canada's most violent criminals and sexual offenders – after a string of romance frauds dating back nearly a decade. Jeffrey Paul Kent was given an indeterminate sentence on June 27 by Court of King's Bench Justice Melanie Hayes-Richards, who said it was the only way to prevent the 55-year-old from acting again. 'Kent is a serial fraudster. He targets vulnerable women, convincing them he is in love with them,' wrote Hayes-Richards in her decision. 'He then manipulates them with lies and false promises to gain access to their finances and other assets. 'He has destroyed the lives of his victims, leaving them financially and emotionally destitute.' In 2022, Kent pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud involving five women who he scammed over $175,000 out of between 2016 and 2017. Hayes-Richards said every one of his victims suffered long-lasting, and in some cases, permanent psychological damage. 'He is a predator who targeted vulnerable single women,' said the decision. 'Using lie upon lie, he inserted himself into his victims' lives, promising a bright and secure future. Instead, he wreaked havoc.' Kent was convicted for other frauds and thefts under similar circumstances dating back to 1990. While going through various psychological evaluations over the years, he was determined to have a significant psychiatric disorder and a gambling addiction. Although he participated in various treatments and programs while incarcerated, he has shown no remorse for his crimes, according to the decision. Romance, deception, gaslighting All five victims met Kent through an online dating app where he used fake names and personas. Some of the women he dated at the same time. Kent would mirror the victims' experiences by creating fake stories where he shared similar experiences. He would often move the relationships along quickly, sometimes moving in with a woman within two to four weeks. The decision said he used 'love-bombing' tactics to convince the women he was deeply in love and committed to them. After imposing himself into their lives, he would ask the women for money related to a business opportunity, falsely promising a quick profit or repayment. When he never paid the women back and ran out of excuses, he would tell them he had brain cancer or a seizure disorder to swindle more money out of his victims. He mostly spent their money gambling or on personal purchases, according to the decision. Kent defrauded one woman of $117,750 by convincing her to invest in a fake hotel reservation business. Another woman lost $21,403 after being coerced into investing in a phony real estate venture. One woman had a child with Kent after being on-and-off with him several times. She became so distressed that she stopped eating and was underweight during her pregnancy. The child was born prematurely and spent 26 days in the NICU. The woman had to return to work just a month after her child was discharged from hospital so she could pay her bills. Not only were the women's finances ruined, their relationships with friends, family and intimate partners were severely impacted by Kent's actions. All of the women experienced severe psychological damage from the gaslighting and manipulation they incurred, said the decision. One victim had suicidal thoughts while others have no interest in dating anymore. Scamming women for two decades Prior to the recent decision, Kent scammed nine other women in his romance schemes. Between 2005 and 2007, Kent defrauded a woman who he had a romantic relationship with of $150,000 by convincing her to invest in a fake hotel reservation business. He defrauded another woman and her family of over an estimated $500,000 while they were in a relationship between 2006 and 2008. Kent and the woman got married in 2007 and had a child. While she was pregnant, the woman found out about the fraudulent activity Kent had been orchestrating. In a victim impact statement, the woman described Kent as a 'monster' and said she dreaded having his child. In 2009, another woman was defrauded of $150,000 and was left with more than $300,000 in debt. During their relationship, he went by Dr. Keenan O'Malley and spoke with an Irish accent. The woman, who worked as a recreational therapist and had two children, was finding it hard to juggle full-time work while raising her children. Kent convinced the woman to invest in another fake hotel reservation business and to list her home for something more affordable. He took $110,000 out of the $200,000 profit from the home to 'piggyback' on his investments. After giving up possession of her house, the woman attempted suicide, the decision read. Following the offence, the woman had no money, job, home or vehicle and was unable to provide basic necessities for her children. As a result, she felt she had to give up custody of her children to their father. After getting back on her feet, her ex-husband refused to allow her access to her children. Today, both children are on medication and anxiety and neither have finished high school. 'Master manipulator' Justice Hayes-Richard said that while Kent has appeared to be committed to treatment while in custody and the community, much of his professed and believed progress was a deception to those trying to help him. 'Kent is an accomplished liar and master manipulator,' said Hayes-Richard in her decision. 'He manipulated each victim into giving him their money, which he used to support his lavish lifestyle and gambling addiction,' said the decision. 'Once his deception was discovered by one victim, he simply moved on to the next, leaving behind a wake of life-altering consequences for each victim.' While Kent has been given an indeterminate sentence, it does not mean that he will never be released from prison. Kent could be released on parole when the Parole Board of Canada is satisfied that parole conditions will be sufficient to control him in the community. Kent is eligible for parole review in seven years from the day he was taken into custody which was on Sept. 24, 2018, making his review date Sept. 24, 2025. If he is not paroled after his September review, the parole board is required to review his case every two years.
CBC
02-07-2025
- CBC
Alberta romance fraudster declared a dangerous offender, locked up indefinitely
Social Sharing A serial romance fraudster with a decades-long pattern of using relationships with women as a ruse to con them out of money has been labelled a dangerous offender. Jeffrey Paul Kent, 55, was given the label intended for Canada's most violent criminals and sexual offenders last week in Edmonton. Court of King's Bench Justice Melanie Hayes-Richards handed him an indeterminate sentence, concluding it's the only way to manage the risk he poses. Kent was arrested on his most recent charges in 2018, and he's been in custody ever since. He pleaded guilty in 2022 to defrauding five women in Edmonton, admitting to using fake names and personas to lure them into relationships. He then concocted phoney investment schemes or made-up scenarios where he needed money to convince them to hand over cash. In total, he scammed the five women out of more than $175,000. "[Kent] is a predator who targeted vulnerable single women, some of whom were recently separated, and some of whom had young children," Hayes-Richards said in her decision. "Using lie upon lie, he inserted himself into his victims' lives, promising a bright and secure future. Instead, he wreaked havoc. He destroyed their finances and left some financially destitute. He shattered their confidence, self-worth and ability to trust others." Kent has other fraud and theft convictions under similar circumstances that date back more than three decades. Beginning in B.C., in 1990, he gained women's trust, then stole their money, typically spending it on gambling. Some lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kent, and two became so deeply involved that they had a child with him, learning only after they were pregnant about the extent of his deception. Dangerous offender status can be considered only if someone is convicted of a "serious personal injury offence," and fraud isn't typically in that category. But Hayes-Richards found that even in the absence of physical violence, Kent's elaborate romance frauds inflicted "severe psychological damage" on his victims, and the dangerous offender scheme applies. "At the core of the pattern is the deep deception Mr. Kent uses to get what he wants: a place to live, vehicles and cellphones for his exclusive use, access to the victims' finances," Hayes-Richards said. "It is Mr. Kent's deep deception that causes severe psychological damage to the victims, not the victims' economic loss alone." Retired lawyer Gary Botting, who co-authored a 2021 book on dangerous offender law in Canada, said it's extremely unusual to see the framework applied to a fraud case. "Usually it's reserved for … repeat offending of a more serious personal nature in terms of assault or attempted murder, or sometimes drug offences that have resulted in people dying — that sort of thing." Botting said he expects the decision will be appealed. Fake identities, investment scams The names of the five women Kent victimized most recently are under a publication ban. Each of them met Kent in 2016 or 2017 through a dating website. Using the name "Jeff Sheridan" or "Jeff Sheenan," he told the women he was a criminal defence lawyer, or a retired Crown prosecutor from B.C., or a law professor with special training in legal ethics. He added embellishments about being a successful real estate investor who owned hotels and mobile homes, which would come up later when he told them he urgently needed money to finalize a deal or get in on a good investment opportunity. Nearly everything Kent told each woman, the judge's decision notes, was a lie. He already had numerous fraud convictions on his record, and had spent time in prison — the fraud against the first woman he targeted began shortly after the end of his sentence. Kent went to significant lengths to make his stories appear real: dressing in suits, staging fake business meetings or calls about "legal cases," and bringing some of his partners to the racetrack or casino, where he appeared well-known and successful. He also made dramatic displays of love and devotion very early in the relationships. He told one woman about his plan to buy her an engagement ring within a month of meeting her, and took her to shop for homes priced at up to $6 million. Each time, Kent's behaviour changed as the relationship progressed, sometimes after the women questioned parts of his story or became more insistent that he repay money he owed them. He told two women he had brain cancer and began faking seizures in front of them. He made efforts to cut off another woman from her friends and family and deleted her social media accounts. He sometimes became demeaning and volatile, threatening one woman with legal action if she kept pushing for her money back, and saying he would kill himself if she left him. Each described a lasting impact from discovering how deep Kent's lies had gone, and each testified during the dangerous offender hearing about struggling with their mental state, feeling unable to trust people and withdrawing from their social lives. One woman, Hayes-Richards wrote in her decision, "went through a cycle of hating herself for being duped and putting so much faith in someone she barely knew. "She was eventually able to acknowledge that she was not alone, other intelligent women like her had been scammed, and anyone could be duped. She still doubts her ability to read people and believes she needs to toughen up." 'Effective pathological liar' The decision describes nine other victims of Kent's romance frauds that came before his latest convictions. One woman was left with $300,000 of debt in the wake of Kent's time with her. Kent went to prison in 2010 for fraud offences against three women and two credit card companies. Six days after he was released on day parole during that sentence, he began speaking to another woman on a dating site, eventually taking more than $10,000 from her and spending it on gambling. After she found out what was happening and reported Kent to police, his day parole was revoked in 2011, and he was convicted of an additional count of fraud, which added more time to his sentence. Forensic psychologist Dr. Bruce Monkhouse, who treated Kent in prison from 2012 to 2014, testified that he believed at the time that Kent was genuinely remorseful and motivated to engage in treatment. But Kent reverted to the same behaviour with new victims shortly after getting out of prison. Another expert, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Alberto Choy, assessed Kent in detail for the dangerous offender hearing. Choy concluded Kent has antisocial personality disorder with a high degree of psychopathy, as well as a gambling disorder, and any benefit from past treatment hasn't lasted. Choy said gambling is part of Kent's motivation for his behaviour, but he also lies for "the thrill of manipulating others to extract resources from them. Choy concluded Kent would have to achieve "monumental changes" to his personality in order to lower his risk, but that will take "decades, not years," if it's possible at all. Without intensive community supervision that goes beyond his past parole conditions, Kent poses a high risk of reoffending, Choy told the court. Hayes-Richards concluded Kent's risk is evident even in his expression of remorse during the court hearing. "Mr. Kent's carefully crafted expressions of responsibility and understanding came after he heard Dr. Choy's evidence about the significance of his regressions," she said. "I do not believe the sincerity of Mr. Kent's expressions to me. They simply corroborate the expert evidence that Mr. Kent is a pathological liar who will say whatever he believes is necessary to manipulate a situation." Calling him an "intelligent, manipulative and effective pathological liar," Hayes-Richards said there's no way to address Kent's behaviour other than an indeterminate sentence. Because he's already been in custody for years, a sentence on his five most recent fraud convictions would have put him in a position to be released based on time already served. "Mr. Kent appears to have an intentional disregard for how his criminal behaviour affects his victims," Hayes-Richards said. "He knows his behaviour inflicts psychological harm on his victims, yet that fact does not deter him from engaging in the same behaviour over and over again."
