A 35-year-old man with a history of violent crime and sexual offences is expected to live in Winnipeg after being released from jail Aug. 21.
The individual in question, Jason Mark Bard, is at high risk of committing sexual crimes, according to an Aug. 22 news release from Manitoba’s Integrated High-Risk Sex Offender Unit (MIHRSOU), a joint force comprised of members of the Winnipeg Police Service and the RCMP.
Bard’s latest sentence, which ended Aug. 21, was served at the Winnipeg Remand Centre after he was convicted of aggravated assault and assaulting a peace officer.
Police say the latest charges stem from incidents while Bard was serving time at Stony Mountain Institution about 25 kilometres north of Winnipeg, where Bard and another incarcerated individual stabbed a fellow inmate. In another incident, police say Bard spat in the face of a corrections officer at the federal prison.
MIHRSOU said Bard’s record includes numerous sexual crimes including sex assault with a weapon, forcibly confining an individual, trying to suffocate and choke another person, repeated probation breaches, and numerous assaults. In 2015, Bard got hit with a five-year sentence after being convicted of sexual assault in a choking attack on a woman that only ended when two passersby intervened.
“Although he has completed some sexual offender treatment in the past, he remains high risk to re-offend in a sexually violent manner against all adult females,” MIHRSOU said. “This information is provided to enable members of the public to take suitable measures to protect themselves. Any form of vigilante activity or other unreasonable conduct directed at BARD will not be tolerated.”
Bard is described as 183 pounds in weight with brown eyes, brown hair, and a height of 5 feet 3 inches. MIHRSOU said he has various tattoos including “Rest in peace / Edward Bone” tattooed on his right calf, the words “devil” and “tribal” on his left arm, and “KRUNK” tattooed on his right hand. He also has additional tattoos of various designs on both arms.
Bard’s release from the Winnipeg Remand Centre includes strict conditions barring him from consuming any alcohol or drugs, a lifetime ban on weapons, avoiding all contact with his past victims or their families and obeying a curfew from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Last month, MIHRSOU issued a similar press release advising public caution over the release of 34-year-old Richard Asante, a sex offender released on July 9 after serving a partial sentence at the Edmonton Institution. Asante was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman while choking her and using a weapon in 2023, and MIHRSOU said he was also expected to reside in Winnipeg after his release.
