Rehabilitation of Teneycke ‘unlikely’
Psychologist estimates prisoner would need at least 5 years of psychotherapy before he could enter treatment programs
It’s unlikely Ronald Teneycke can ever be rehabilitated such that he no longer poses a threat to the community, a psychologist testified Wednesday at Teneycke’s dangerous-offender hearing in Penticton.
“I wish I could be more optimistic, but I think, being realistic, it’s a very poor prognosis,” said Dr. Will Reimer.
Based on an interview with Teneycke, 54, and records from past psychological assessments, Reimer diagnosed Teneycke with a borderline personality disorder that’s complicated by narcissistic, anti-social, anti-authority and paranoid tendencies, all of which make him difficult to treat.
Reimer estimated Teneycke would require at least five years of one-on-one psychotherapy while in prison before he could even enter treatment programs for inmates who’ve engaged in violent or sexual offences.
And upon his release from prison, Teneycke would require “extraordinary coping skills,” which he currently lacks, to make the changes stick, the doctor continued.
Reimer further determined there is virtually no way to safely supervise Teneycke if he is eventually released back into the community.
“It’s very difficult to envision a scenario, because there’s been so little success in the past with community supervision,” explained the doctor. Teneycke was being supervised under the terms of a three-year probation order in July 2015 when he robbed an Oliver store at gunpoint and later shot a man whose truck he stole.
It’s those offences, coupled with Teneycke’s prior criminal record, that have prompted the Crown to ask a provincial court judge to declare him a dangerous offender, a designation that can carry with it an indefinite prison sentence. Other options include a finite jail sentence or a finite jail sentence with a maximum 10-year supervision order.
Defence counsel Michael Welsh conceded Tuesday at the outset of the hearing that he won’t argue against the dangerous-offender designation, but will fight the Crown’s attempt to have his client locked up indefinitely.
Reimer said the traits associated with Teneycke’s personality are deep-seated.
As a child, Teneycke “was violated many times in various ways — psychologically and in other ways — so it makes sense how he got there,” said the doctor.
Reimer acknowledged Teneycke has, in the past, expressed a desire to change his ways but has not been able to do so, making him a high risk to reoffend.
“In whatever situation in life he is, he almost always finds ways of violating someone or something and ends up back in jail, and that’s happened now since he was very young, so it’s not just something that happens occasionally,” the doctor said.
The hearing is expected to continue through today, then reconvene for another week in late July.
Teneycke’s criminal record dates back to 1981, but he gained notoriety in 2007 when police in the South Okanagan warned the public about his release from prison after completing a 12-year sentence for sexually assaulting a teenager and threatening to kill a correctional officer. He has been in and out of jail ever since.