High-risk sex offender refuses to appear at bail hearing in Guelph

CTV News

4 days ago

A man known as a high-risk sex offender remains behind bars after he refused to appear in a Guelph court on Monday morning.
Medhani Yohans was arrested Friday, less than 24 hours after being released from custody on separate charges.
'[A] person that he had a pervious interaction with, about a year prior, called and indicated that he was downtown and was close to that person's workplace and [was] concerned for her safety,' Scott Tracey, a Guelph Police spokesperson, said Monday. 'Officers did investigate and were able to confirm his presence there.'
The 36-year-old was charged with four counts of breach of probation, disobeying a court order and criminal harassment.
'Through the use of our new downtown cameras, that were installed about a year ago, officers were able to look back on the camera footage and confirm his attendance at a place that he shouldn't have been,' Tracey explained, adding that it was what led to criminal harassment charge.
Yohans has a history of violence, including at least two sexual assaults involving strangers.
On July 29, 2024, he was released from police custody in Toronto. Yohans was arrested again, this time by Guelph Police, for breaching his conditions on Aug. 23, 2024.
He was released on March 1, 2025.
At that time, Guelph Police warned the public he was a high-risk to reoffend.
On March 8, 2025, Yohans was rearrested by Guelph Police for breaching conditions. He was released on bail the following day.
Guelph Police said Yohans was found sleeping on a bench at the University of Guelph on March 10, 2025. He was, once again, arrested for breaching a court order.
Yohans was released on bail on July 24 and, as before, Guelph Police issued a public warning.
When he was arrested the next day, a court date was set for July 28.
The morning of his bail hearing, Yohans refused to go to court.
Ari Goldkind, a criminal defence lawyer not associated with the case, said there are processes in place to deal with these situations.
'If somebody does keep doing that throughout, for example, a preliminary inquiry or trial process, there's various mechanisms in the Criminal Code to, one, force them to come, or two, if forcing them to come isn't going to be done, to do the trial in their absence if you can show that there's a good reason to proceed, and they themselves are the ones causing the problem,' he explained.
Goldkind also understands how frustrating it can be when repeat offenders are released from custody.
'We're not even talking about a Canadian citizen,' he said, referring to the fact that Yohans used to live in Africa. 'We're talking about somebody who should think it's a privilege to be here.'
Yohans has another bail hearing scheduled Tuesday.