A 25-year-old man in Ontario, Canada, has been charged with breaking in to a family’s home in Welland and sexually assaulting their toddler. Daniel “Dani” Senecal identified himself as using “she/her” on his Facebook profile and displayed the trans pride flag in his biography.
On Sunday, August 31, police and paramedics were called to a home near Crowland Avenue and York Street in Welland for a medical assistance call involving a young child. When emergency first responders arrived, they discovered the front door of the home showed signs of being forced open and the child was suffering from serious injuries.
Officers secured the scene and canvassed the neighbourhood shortly thereafter. Investigators say a witness came forward with surveillance video, and the suspect was quickly identified as Daniel Senecal.
Senecal was taken into custody and charged with aggravated sexual assault on a child, assault, assault by choking, breaking and entering a home and sexual interference with a child. His young female victim has been transported out-of-region for advanced medical care, but she has been declared to be stable.
After interviewing the parents, Niagara Police issued a news release describing Senecal as a “stranger” had broken into the family’s home sometime between 10 p.m. and 8:59 a.m. and sexually assaulted their sleeping toddler.
While police attempted to portray the crime as a “stranger attack,” the National Post has since reported that several friends of the victim’s mother say the man arrested was known to the victim’s family and had previous contact with the toddler he assaulted. Locals also expressed confusion as to why police described it as a “stranger attack” when that was not the case.
Another mother in the area told the National Post that Senecal had sexually assaulted her young son in 2021. She said he was arrested, charged and after two years of court hearings was sentenced to 18 months in jail, but was released six months early, in early March.
While little is known about Senecal’s past, a Facebook page has been uncovered showing that he appears to have recently adopted a transgender identity.
On the profile, Senecal refers to himself as “Dani,” and, in a short bio note, writes “finally figured it out” with the gay pride and trans pride flag emojis.
His pronouns on the profile are set to “she/her” and his most recent selfie, taken in March, shows that he had clean-shaven his beard and grown out his hair.
While it is unclear when Senecal first began to identify as transgender, under the current laws in Ontario, he is allowed to request housing and accommodations on the basis of his self-declared “gender identity.”
In Ontario, transgender inmates are generally housed according to their self-declared gender preferences, both in federal and provincial facilities, unless officials determine that serious safety or health concerns make it impossible.
The federal Correctional Service of Canada formalized this policy in 2017 and reinforced it in 2022 with Commissioner’s Directive 100, which requires placement based on gender identity or expression by default. Ontario’s provincial system adopted a similar policy in 2015, instructing that inmates be placed according to their gender identity or housing preference, with exceptions only if authorities can prove compelling reasons.
The only province in Canada that has moved to defy the nationwide procedural consensus is Quebec, which recently adopted new rules surrounding the housing of transgender inmates. In June, Quebec’s Public Security Minister, François Bonnardel, announced that the province would now require transgender inmates in provincial prisons to be housed based on their anatomical sex at birth, rather than on their self‑identified gender.
The announcement came after a high-profile trial involving a trans-identified male who had murdered his entire family. Mohamad Al Ballouz began to identify as a woman after being arrested, and was briefly placed in a women’s facility during trial. He has since been moved to a men’s prison.
Reduxx is your source of pro-woman, pro-child safeguarding news and commentary. We’re 100% independent! Support our mission by making a one-time donation.
