Saint John-area ‘high-risk sex offender’ now living in Halifax
SAINT JOHN, N.B. — A high-risk sex offender sentenced to two years in prison for breaching his release conditions in Saint John is now residing in Halifax.
Harvey Joseph Venus, 38, was released after his sentence and is now in Nova Scotia, Halifax Regional Police said in a news release.
Venus was sentenced in July, with 14 months in remand, for breach of a long-term supervision order, with the court hearing he was on conditions to report new relationships and not be alone with children under 18.
He was released in Saint John in February 2022 after serving a four-year sentence for sexual interference with a nine-year-old child in Nova Scotia. Court heard that in April, he met a woman at a music event, lied that he was a parolee on a break-and-enter charge and told her not to contact his parole officer.
He began visiting her at her home over the next few days, when he would sometimes be left alone with her six-year-old child, who he was “very comfortable” with, the court heard, including having his arm around the child watching TV. Once the woman saw the Saint John police’s public safety alert regarding Venus, she called the police.
Halifax police described Venus as a “high-risk offender” who is under conditions not to be in the presence of children under 18, not to be near daycares, schools, parks, playgrounds or swimming pools, not to have any device with access to the internet, associate with anyone known to be involved in criminal conduct or consume drugs or alcohol. He must reside in a community residential facility and report new relationships.
