Sask. government says it continues to look at banning sex offenders from changing names

Saskatchewan's government says it's stillconsidering whether someone convicted of a sexual offence should be allowed to change their name.

"The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry [of] Health are currently examining changes to the application process, including not allowing a change of name where an offender has been convicted of committing specific sexual offences," Justice Minister Don Morgan said in an emailed statement on Tuesday.

In 2018, the Ministry of Justice first mulled over the idea of having people applying for name changes undergo a criminal record check.

• Sask. considering criminal record checks when applying for name change

"In the interest of public safety, offenders that prey on the most vulnerable in our society should not be able to change their name to avoid public disclosure and scrutiny."

That proposal is getting discussed again amid reports about a man convicted of sexually assaulting a minor and committing child pornography offences in the United States.

The man has allegedly settled in Regina and changed his name.

David Donald Shumey, 76, changed his name to David Donald Stryker and lives in the city, as listed in the Saskatchewan Gazette and reported by the Regina Leader-Post on Tuesday.

Saskatchewan's Ministry of Justice was unaware that Stryker had re-entered Canada and had listed an address in Regina.

"The Government of Saskatchewan is very concerned about the situation raised where an offender who has been convicted of committing sexual offences has changed their name," Morgan's statement read.

The man was living in the U.S. as an illegal immigrant from Canada, according to stories published by the Las Vegas Sun Newspaper in 1999.

"David Donald Shumey was given the 20-years-to-life sentence Thursday after he tried to place the blame on the girl's parents for leaving her with him at a low-income downtown apartment complex," the Las Vegas Sun article read.

He "plea-bargained his 88-count child pornography and sexual assault case down to one count of sexual assault of a minor and two charges of using a minor in the production of pornography."

A plea bargain was struck in order to save the victim and a potential jury from a trial, the Las Vegas Sun reporter wrote.

Furthermore, he reported that the man, "who has eight aliases, admitted he has a "weakness" and gave in to impulses while baby-sitting the girl.

The girl was reportedly 7and 8 years old at the time.

According to theLas Vegas Sun, the abuse wasn't discovered until a maintenance man discovered an album of child porn hidden in a vent at the downtown motel where Stryker (then Shumey) was living.

A spokesperson for the Regina Police Service said Tuesday that officers "are looking into the possibility of this person's presence in the community."

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Name change not unique for convicted child pornographers

In 2018, two Saskatchewan men who had served time for child pornography charges were thrust back into the public eye because they had changed their names.

One man, Gabriel Michael Fisher (formerly known as Kevin Daniel Hudec) was charged again with making child pornography and accessing it after his name change.

One month later, Justin William Pasloski formerly named Justin Gerard Gryba was thrown back into the spotlight when it was discovered he had changed his name. He had been convicted in 2016 of making child pornography and sentenced to two years less a day.

If a person wants to change their name in Saskatchewan they have to be a resident of the province, must be 18 or older and must be entitled to be in Canada.

If there is a name change, such as in the cases of Fisher and Pasloski, the offender has seven days to notify the authorities. If they do not, they face potential penalization including fines and jail time.