Toddler Sex Assault Suspect Claiming Transgender Identity Reportedly Seeking Move to Women’s Prison

A sign showing the address of the Niagara Regional Police Service detachment in 1 District located in St. Catharines, Ont., on March 15, 2024. The Canadian Press/Aaron Lynett

A registered child sex offender who was recently charged in connection with a violent sexual assault on an Ontario toddler has reportedly requested a transfer to a women’s prison, saying he is transgender.

Daniel Senecal, 25, was arrested by Niagara Regional Police earlier this month in connection with an attack on a three-year-old girl in her Welland, Ont., home.

Senecal, whose bail hearing was held today in a St. Catharines courtroom, has reportedly asked to be transferred to the Vanier Centre for Women, a medium-to-maximum security facility in Milton, Ont., that holds female prisoners serving sentences of less than two years or those awaiting trial without bail.

He was remanded into custody during his courtroom appearance via video, with a future court date set for Oct. 15.  The order means Senecal will remain in detention until his next court appearance or until trial.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has condemned the prison transfer request, saying biological men should be barred from female prisons.

“Appalling. Now, this vile male monster charged with violently sexually assaulting a 3 year old girl wants to be transferred to a women’s prison,” Poilievre said in a social media post. “Lock him up. Throw away the key. And ban biological men from women’s prisons. Period.”

The Epoch Times contacted the Correctional Service of Canada for comment on Senecal’s transfer request but did not hear back before publication time. Police also have not confirmed the gender identity of the suspect.

Senecal’s Facebook page lists his name as Dani Sénécal and his pronouns as she/her.

Protests

Senecal’s bail hearing prompted hundreds of protesters to gather outside both the St. Catharines courthouse and the Niagara Detention Centre in Thorold, Ont., where he is being held.

The protest at the courthouse was organized by a group on Facebook called Protest For Harder Sentences Against Violent Crimes. Welland Mayor Frank Campion, who attended the event, addressed the crowd using a bullhorn to be heard.

“We cannot have predators come into a courthouse and get released,” he told the crowd prior to Senecal’s hearing.

The mayor also called on Ottawa to implement stronger bail and sentencing laws as well as a public registry for sex offenders.

Campion has previously spoken out about the toddler’s assault, calling it a “horrific act” that was “impossible to fathom.”

“I cannot begin to imagine the pain this family is living through. The love and compassion we have for our children, and our concern for their well-being, is beyond words,” he wrote in a Sept. 3 statement.

The assault of the young girl occurred sometime between 10 p.m. on Aug. 30 and 8:59 a.m. on Aug. 31, police said in a Sept. 1 press release.

“After speaking with the child’s parents, it became apparent an unknown person defeated the lock on the front door and entered the residence,” police said. “While inside the residence, unbeknownst to the parents, their child was sexually assaulted.”

The child sustained “serious injuries” and was taken to an out-of-region hospital for advanced medical care. The child was in hospital in stable condition as of Sept. 1, police said.

Senecal was identified as a suspect after a witness provided video surveillance of the general area to the police. He was arrest a short time later and was charged with aggravated sexual assault on a person under 16 years, assault, assault/choking, break and enter, and sexual interference with a person under 16 years of age.

This is the second time Senecal has faced charges linked to the assault of a child. He was found guilty of sexual assault of a minor, sexual interference of a minor and choking in 2021, for which he was handed an 18-month sentence.

Past Requests

Poilievre has spoken out in the past against Canadian legislation permitting male offenders who identify as female to be incarcerated in women’s facilities.

He also spoke out after convicted killer Mohamad Al Ballouz made a similar request.

Al Ballouz was handed a sentence of life with no chance of parole for 25 years during his December 2024 sentencing hearing in Quebec for the 2022 murders of his wife and two young sons. He asked to serve his time in a women’s prison, saying he identified as a woman, and now goes by the first name Levana.

Poilievre took to social media to comment on the request.

“Surreal: A man who killed his wife and two kids now claims he is a woman to go to a female prison,” Poilievre wrote in a December 2024 post about the Al Ballouz case. “I can’t believe I have to say this: but when I’m PM, there will be no male prisoners in female jails. Period.”

The implementation of the Liberal government’s Bill C-16 in June 2017 amended the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code to recognize gender identity and expression as protected categories. The change allows “gender diverse” inmates to seek placement in correctional facilities that align with their gender identity. The requests are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Al Ballouz’s request was denied by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) in April after the government agency completed its assessment of the case. The agency said he would serve his term in a men’s facility, but did not disclose the reasons behind its decision.

The nature of the crime, which Quebec Superior Justice Eric Downs described as a “femicide” due to the “extreme violence” in which Al Ballouz’s wife Synthia Bussières was repeatedly stabbed, may have influenced the decision.

While there are no published numbers on how many men identify as women have received such transfers, a 2022 CSC study of 99 “gender diverse” inmates suggested one-third of the 61 men identifying as women were incarcerated at women’s facilities.

The government has not released any more recent information, but the 2022 study said 17 prisoners categorized as “other” were evenly split between women’s and men’s prisons.