Counsel seeking dangerous offender status for convicted rapist

The Crown is pushing to declare a convicted rapist a dangerous offender.

Dennis Wayne Bragg was convicted of confining and sexually assaulting a pregnant, mentally ill prostitute in Kamloops in 2010. The conviction came eight years after another conviction across the country after Bragg raped a woman in New Brunswick in 2002.

He was handed a six-year jail sentence for the 2002 New Brunswick case and remains in custody while continuing to await sentencing for the 2010 Kamloops conviction.

"Mr. Bragg was subject to a high risk to reoffend," said crown counsel Donald Mann. "There's a high risk to reoffend in a sexually violent way."

The designation includes imprisonment for an indeterminate period, with no chance of parole for seven years. It's rare for prosecutors to seek such a designation, which restricts liberties in anticipation of further offences. It's also difficult to attain as the court considers complex legal arguments.

The sentencing hearing is ongoing.