Dangerous offender hearing begins for convicted sexual predator Lance Blanchard

A dangerous offender hearing begins Mondayfor a man convicted in 2016 of the violent sexual assault of an Indigenous woman in an Edmonton apartment.

Lance Blanchard wasfound guilty of aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping, forcible confinement, possession of a weapon and making a death threatin relation to the 2014 attack on thewoman, who CBC refers to using the pseudonymAngela Cardinal.

The case sparked outrage, and two reviews were ordered by Alberta Justicewhen CBCNews found Cardinal was incarcerated during hertestimony at Blanchard's preliminary hearing.

• 'I'm the victim and I'm in shackles': Edmonton woman jailed while testifying against her attacker

Cardinal, 28, died months later in an unrelated shooting.

In August, Blanchard lost a bid for a mistrial.

• Defence seeks mistrial, tries again to paint jailed victim as criminal in Angela Cardinal case

The Crown applied for Blanchard to be declared a dangerous offender, a term reserved for Canada's most violent criminals and sexual predators.

The Crown must show that there is a high risk Blanchard will commit violent or sexual offences in the future. If declared a dangerous offender, Blanchard would be given an indeterminate sentence, and could spend the rest of his life in prison.