Ontario Review Board
Re: Denis Russell McCullough
ORB File No: 0702
Hearing held on: Thursday, May 14, 2026
Place of hearing: Ontario Review Board, 151 Bloor Street W., Toronto, Via Zoom Video Conference
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Mr. R. Steinberg
Members: Dr. P. Prendergast
Dr. J. Cheston
Ms. K. Weisbaum
Mr. A. Bouvier
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Denis Russell McCullough
Counsel: Mr. A. Pollard
Person in charge of hospital: Counsel: Mr. J. Thomson
Attorney-General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. R. Edward
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated May 26, 2026)
Introduction
Mr. McCullough was found not guilty by reason of insanity on July 4, 1980, of one count of attempted murder and two counts of kidnapping. He became a dual status offender when he was found guilty of escaping lawful custody, forcible confinement, possession of a weapon, sexual assault with a weapon, and uttering death threats, on December 8, 1993. He was declared a dangerous offender and sentenced to detention in a penitentiary for an indeterminate period on October 4, 1994.
As a dual status offender, in addition to his indeterminate sentence, Mr. McCullough is subject to a disposition of the Ontario Review Board dated November 8, 2023, that orders his continued detention within a prison and, should his incarceration in a federal penitentiary cease, that he be detained at the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care – Provincial Forensic Programs Division, in Penetanguishene, Ontario. The disposition also orders, with the consent of the parties, that the time for holding the next hearing to review the disposition be extended to 24 months from the date of its issuance.
The Board scheduled a hearing, conducted by Zoom video conference, to review the disposition on May 14, 2026, as required by s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code and the November 8, 2023, Disposition.
The issues to be determined at the hearing were whether Mr. McCullough continued to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public as defined in s. 672.5401 of the Criminal Code and, if so found, determination of the necessary and appropriate disposition that is least onerous and restrictive in the circumstances.
Positions of the Parties
- At the outset of the hearing counsel for the hospital and the Attorney General suggested that Mr. McCullough continued to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public and ought to be subject to the same terms as those in the present disposition if released from federal custody. Mr. Pollard, counsel for Mr. McCullough, wished to hear evidence before stating his position.
Index Offences
The facts of the index offences are set out in the February 29, 2024, Assessment for Decision – Transfer, filed as Exhibit 1 at the hearing. Briefly stated, they are that in May 1978, Mr. McCullough was paroled and in August 1979 he absconded. While unlawfully at large and on his way to the west coast he picked up a male and a female who were hitchhiking. During that trip he stabbed the male several times. He and the female victim were able to stitch the male’s wounds and Mr. McCullough tied the male victim to a tree when they stopped in British Columbia. The male victim was ultimately able to free himself and Mr. McCullough was arrested a short time later in August 1979. He was charged with attempted murder and two counts of kidnapping and was found not guilty by reason of insanity on July 4, 1980.
While a patient at the Kingston Psychiatric Hospital, on June 6, 1992, Mr. McCullough made his way to a neighbouring amusement park and abducted a 16-year-old female. Those acts resulted in the December 8, 1993, convictions for escaping lawful custody, forcible confinement, possession of a weapon, sexual assault with a weapon, and uttering death threats.
Background and History
Mr. McCullough is presently 84 years of age. He has an extensive criminal record that officially began in 1955, when he was 14 years of age and was sentenced in adult court to two years for property offences. He had been resident at a training school between the ages of 10 and 13. In 1957 he was sent to the Guelph Reformatory and escaped in December of that year. In 1963 he was convicted of two counts each of robbery and break and enter. Following those offences, he purchased a car and fled to Texas but was deported back to Canada and sentenced to 12 years. He was paroled in October 1969 and a month later absconded to the United States, where he was convicted of armed robbery in Nevada. He served 18 months in a mental health facility in that State before starting a term of five years to life in Carson City prison, Nevada. He was paroled in 1976 and returned to Canada.
He was arrested on August 12, 1979, following his commission of the index offences of attempt murder and kidnapping, and as stated above, was found not guilty by reason of insanity on July 4, 1980, with respect to those offences.
The Parole Board of Canada Decision of August 18, 2025, entered as Exhibit 2 at the hearing, notes that Mr. McCullough was born and raised in Quebec. After his parents separated when he was aged 5, he was placed in foster care. He has reported that illicit drug use began in his 20s. He has spent the majority of his youth and adult years in some form of custodial setting. He has no family support and has not communicated with his family in over 40 years. The Decision refers to the contents of a Psychological Risk Assessment dated April 8, 2025, that describes Mr. McCullough as a moderate risk for general, violent, and sexual offence re-offending. The assessment notes that he suffers from serious mental health issues, although he is not receiving regular mental health service intervention or medication. He is described as “highly institutionalized.”
The Parole Board Decision indicates that Mr. McCullough was placed in a maximum security penitentiary between 1994 and 2005. On the latter date he was transferred to a medium secure institution, a security level at which he has since remained.
An Assessment for Decision dated May 6, 2025, entered as Exhibit 5 at the hearing, was prepared to address Mr. McCullough’s legislated Day and Full Parole review. It notes that “various professionals have assessed McCullough as having a complex personality construct that is rooted in psychopathy and narcissism” and “McCullough’s antisocial values are deeply entrenched into the construct of his personality, which renders change difficult.”
A Security Level Review dated March 2, 2026, entered as Exhibit 6 at the hearing, notes that since his last security review on February 29, 2024, Mr. McCullough has required acute medical care, has incurred one institutional charge, and has been involved in nine security incidents. The institutional charge occurred on August 12, 2025, when Mr. McCullough exposed himself to staff. He was found guilty of that charge and fined $25.00. On October 19, 2024, during medication delivery, Mr. McCullough continuously attempted to grab at the nurse.
The Review notes that he has been accused of sexually assaulting an inmate and being sexually inappropriate with another inmate. A report was received on March 2, 2023, that he had threatened to kill another inmate on his range, but he denied making the threat. He put another inmate in a headlock on June 1, 2023, and minor use of force was used to remove his arm from around the inmate’s neck. Physical handling was used to guide Mr. McCullough back to his cell on December 27, 2023, when he refused direction to do so. Information was received on February 24, 2024, that Mr. McCullough was telling other inmates that he was receiving oral sex from another inmate at the Regional Treatment Centre at the Bath Institution.
The Review also refers to file information that indicates the offences for which he is serving the indeterminate sentence were planned, as Mr. McCullough had stashed provisions outside the hospital. He kidnapped the victim and kept her for many hours, including overnight, and forced her to walk from Kingston to the greater Napanee area in Ontario. During the abduction he sexually assaulted her, a fact he now denies.
The Review notes that he has recently been diagnosed with Bipolar Affective Disorder - in remission for over 10 years - and has been assessed as having some developing cognitive impairment. He does not require psychiatric medication and is not followed by mental health services. The most recent Correctional Plan indicates that his motivation is low, and he has not applied himself in working toward cascading or engaging with the correctional process. It assesses him as rating a moderate level of risk regarding public safety.
An updated Psychological Risk Assessment, authored by P. Marquis on April 8, 2025, states that Mr. McCullough’s “institutional behaviour since the last risk assessment in 2023 has been occasionally problematic with involvement in fights with peers and possible sexual activity as well. Despite his advanced age, Mr. McCullough appears to present a moderate risk for general, violent, and sexual offence recidivism at this point.”
Evidence at the Hearing
Ms. M. Mulrooney, a parole officer with Correctional Service Canada (“CSC”), testified at the hearing. Mr. McCullough had been transferred to the Regional Treatment Centre at Millhaven Institution while allegations of sexual misconduct were under investigation. He returned to the Regional Treatment Centre at the Bath Institution on April 20, 2026. She confirmed the one institutional charge and nine security incidents referred to above that have occurred since his security review on February 29, 2024.
She reported that the case management team has assessed Mr. McCullough as posing a moderate risk to public safety; while he uses and attended the hearing in a wheelchair, he is still able to ambulate and engage in sexual activity and physical altercations. She agreed with the suggestion in CSC assessments that Mr. McCullough is described as “highly institutionalized” and as unable to function pro-socially in the community. In her view he would need a great deal of support if living in the community, which halfway houses could not provide. She noted that Mr. McCullough has no plan to live in the community and no community support.
Ms. Mulrooney considered Mr. McCullough a significant threat to re-offend. She agreed that at his last parole hearing he had not sought release, and she considered the high level of security available at the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care – Provincial Forensics Program an appropriate security level at a forensic hospital. Mr. McCullough has 24-hour access to nursing care within the Regional Treatment Centre.
Ms. Mulrooney agreed that Mr. McCullough was fined $25.00 for having exposed his genitals on August 12, 2025. She stated he is not receiving any mental health services and assessed him as remaining capable of sexual activity and physical aggression. In response to a question from Mr. Pollock, she agreed that Mr. McCullough has not been convicted of a criminal offence since 1994.
No evidence was adduced by counsel for the Attorney General.
Mr. McCullough testified. He stated that he has lung cancer, heart problems, and finds walking difficult. When asked if he thought he posed a risk to the safety of the public he stated, “if I see a person as a danger to me, then I’m a risk... it doesn’t matter who you are.” He added that he would not be the aggressor, denied having raped anyone - stating he would never touch a woman - and did not know why he was in custody.
Submissions
Counsel for the hospital and Attorney General maintained that Mr. McCullough continued to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public and that detention at the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care – Provincial Forensics Program was appropriate if he were released from federal custody. Mr. Pollard questioned whether significant threat to public safety had been established to the legal standard of a balance of probabilities. He noted his client has not had a criminal conviction since 1994, suffers from significant health issues, and is only partially ambulatory.
If the panel concluded that the evidence established Mr. McCullough continued to meet the definition, he agreed the security level at the Waypoint Centre would be appropriate. He endorsed Mr. Thomson’s suggestion that if, upon transfer to Waypoint, Mr. McCullough were assessed as appropriate for a lesser level of security, an early hearing could be called to determine that issue. He also suggested, with the agreement of Ms. Edward, that pursuant to s. 672.81(1.1), the time for holding the next review for Mr. McCullough be extended to a period of 24 months.
Conclusion
Having considered the exhibits, testimony, and submissions of the parties, the panel concludes that Mr. McCullough remains a significant threat to the safety of the public. The term is defined in s. 672.5401 as “a risk of serious physical or psychological harm to a member of the public ... resulting from conduct that is criminal in nature but not necessarily violent.” In recent years Mr. McCullough has grabbed at nurses delivering medication, assaulted other inmates, and engaged in sexually inappropriate activity. He forthrightly testified that if he perceived an individual as a danger to him, he would react aggressively. He is described as being highly institutionalized, and it is not speculative to anticipate the increased frequency of such types of behaviour in a less secure and less highly supervised and structured environment than he presently occupies.
In view of his institutional misconduct and need for structure and supervision we consider the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care – Provincial Forensics Program to be the appropriate level of security required at present in the event Mr. McCullough is released from federal custody. As Mr. Thomson suggested in his submissions, if after transfer to Waypoint at some point in the future Mr. McCullough is assessed as being appropriate for a lesser level of security, the hospital or a party may apply under s. 672.81(2) or s. 672.82(1) for an early review.
Mr. McCullough’s past patterns of conduct demonstrate he has a low threshold for aggressive behaviour and, despite his age, is sexually demonstrative and physically aggressive. Considered with the fact that there has been no change to his Correctional Service Canada risk assessment, we conclude he has not “aged out” of posing a physical and sexual aggression risk.
Accordingly, we order that Mr. McCullough be detained at the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care – Provincial Forensic Programs Division, should his incarceration in a federal penitentiary cease, and that all terms and conditions of the November 8, 2023, Disposition continue until a new disposition is issued. With the agreement of counsel for the accused and Attorney General, a two-year review is ordered pursuant to s. 672.81(1.1).
DATED this 26th day of May 2026, at the City of Toronto, in the Region of Toronto.
Mr. R. Steinberg
Alternate Chairperson
Office of the Registrar
Ontario Review Board