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Teneycke saw himself as the victim

Psychologist at the dangerous offender hearing says Teneycke would be very difficult to treat
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A psychologist at the dangerous offender hearing for Ronald Teneycke said the variety of serious offences committed and range of emotional states is highly disconcerting.

“There are so many areas that could potentially set him off or put him in a position where he offends. It is difficult to, it is almost difficult to say who would be safe and who wouldn’t be safe depending on how he feels or how he is doing,” said clinical psychologist Dr. Will Reimer, who conducted an assessment of Teneycke.

The latest round of charges, which Teneycke has pleaded guilty to, spurring the dangerous offender hearing, are from 2015. Already with warrants for his arrest for not appearing in court, Teneycke robbed an Oliver convenience store then shot a man in the back and stole his truck. After a manhunt across the Okanagan-Similkameen, Teneycke was arrested in Cawston.

Related: Dangerous offender hearing starts

A person with a “horrendous” upbringing and someone who perceived himself as a victim of society and the courts, is how Reimer described Teneycke.

Reimer, who conducted an assessment of the prolific offender, said there was a feeling from Teneycke that everyone was against him and they were the bad ones, not him, and that he was the victim.

“A person can rationalize that they are the victim, therefore they can do this and it is somebody else’s fault that they are doing it. It is someone else’s fault that they are committing this offence. It’s the person I shot in the back’s fault for running away from me, it’s that mentality.

“That is a huge risk factor in terms of being able to rationalize it because it gives a person basically license to commit offences without consequence in terms of psychologically because it is not that sense oh my God I actually violated someone else.”

Reimer said Teneycke’s mindset is entrenched due to a number of factors relating back to his childhood, substance abuse, mental health disorders and the revolving door to institutions. The psychologist explained that most people get a sense before they do something of whether it is right or wrong and an emotional correction or value based correction happens. From his assessment he believes that is instilled inside Teneycke.

“There is less of that emotional pin-prick,” said Reimer.

He explained that it is hard to treat someone, especially with a background like Teneycke’s where he grew up with everyone around him violating others and those values were set into him as being normal, on top of years and years of him carrying on that behaviour.

Mike Cliffe, B.C. Corrections probation supervisor, was assigned to Teneycke in 2008 when he was on a recognizance from the sexual assault charges he spent 12 years in federal prison for and another probation for breaches he was charged with in 2007.

Cliffe also said Teneycke exhibited the attitude of everyone being against him. He said Tenecyke would become adversarial when he would ask to do things in the community or ask to change residences and was told either no, or that there were several processes that would have to take place before he could move. Those involved home checks, involving the RCMP, making sure no victims were in the area and that he would be able to comply with all the conditions put on his orders.

Cliffe said the overall feeling he got from Tenecyke was that he felt he shouldn’t be under supervision.

“His attitude towards it was he shouldn’t be on supervision … that he had served his time and been released,” said Cliffe.

The dangerous offender hearing wrapped on Thursday, but will continue again on July 31.