A Whitehorse woman who was viciously assaulted in her own home is frightened by the notion her attacker will be up for release Thursday.

She is asking the community to echo the written resentment she has filed with the National Parole Board of Canada, which she said is scheduled to hold a parole review tomorrow for 24-year-old Marcellus Jacob.

For what was described by then-territorial court judge Barry Stuart as a brutal, horrific sexual assault, Jacob was sentenced Feb. 27, 2002 to eight years in a federal penitentiary.

The victim said she learned just recently that Jacob is up for a parole review. She is disturbed that the man who tortured and raped her at knifepoint over a period of five hours could soon be back in this community.

'How I wish that I had the means to simply move away to some obscure place where he could never track me down,' the victim writes in her letter to be presented to the board.

'Only then could I really begin to heal. I, for one, am convinced that he could never be less than a major safety risk, a life-threatening ticking time bomb that will find yet another victim.'

In her letter to the board, the victim says the brutal attack which many believe she was lucky to live through has changed not only her life immeasurably but the lives of family members, friends and the community at large.

To permit his release, she writes, would serve as the ultimate evidence that it is the victims of crime whose needs are largely ignored by the criminal justice system.

'To bring it home, how do I survive now, knowing that at some point of the near future, Jacob could easily once again be free in Victoria, or Whitehorse, or at the Capital (Hotel), or outside my door or window? Even while I am asleep?'

The Jacob case set the community ablaze with concern. It prompted a protest in front of the Whitehorse courthouse and strident calls for a harsh penalty.

The seven-year sentence was in addition to the six months he had served awaiting trial, which is counted as a year.

For the record, the judge said during sentencing, the crimes committed by Jacob were deserving of a 10-year sentence but for the disturbing circumstances of his youth that made him who he was.

Evidence before the court three years ago shows that Jacob broke into the victim's home early one July morning while she was asleep, and committed his crimes as most of the city slept.

Debra Kihara of the National Parole Board said this morning from Abottsford, B.C., that the office of the board cannot confirm parole review dates to anybody other than the victim and those who have applied to be present at the parole reviews.

She did confirm that Jacob has not had a parole review of any sort since he was sentenced three years ago.

But he was eligible for unescorted, temporary absences from prison in April 2003, day parole in December 2003 and full parole in June of last year.

The offender is eligible for statutory release in October 2006 after serving two thirds of his sentence. He must be released then unless the Corrections Service of Canada asks for further detention, a request the board would have to consider and render a decision on.

Kihara said the board does consider written submissions from the public during its parole reviews.

But they must be received in time to permit staff to prepare them for the board, as well as provide copies to the prisoner who is entitled to all information the board will be considering.

Kihara said members of the community can fax their letters to 604-870-2498.

She did note the names of authors are also provided to the prisoner, unless there is a request from the letter-writer that his or her name be kept from him.

Receiving the letters or faxes a couple of days in advance of a hearing enables staff to contact the writers to ensure they understand their names will be shared with the prisoner if a request for confidentiality is not made.

Neither the parole board nor Corrections Services is at liberty to discuss what treatment or counselling a prisoner has received in prison, Kihara said.

Members of the public, however, are eligible to request a copy of the parole board's decision on any review, which will include a reference to treatments received by a prisoner.

When Judge Stuart sentenced Jacob, he told the violent offender the only way the community would ever consider taking him back was if he undertook sincere efforts to understand and deal with the personal problems he faces.

'If you do not do that (take treatment), you will never be welcome back to the community,' he told Jacob three years ago.

The judge did lambast what he described as a dysfunctional justice system for permitting Jacob to become what he was, despite warning bells going off from as early as childhood, and sounding louder and louder as he grew older ñ� but to no avail.

Stuart said during sentencing if Jacob did not accept and complete the treatment he requires, he would recommend the offender serve the full seven years.

Comments made by a judge at sentencing are taken into account during a parole review.

'Not one moment in my life has been completely free of fear, and though I'd fervently hoped that the intense PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) symptoms would eventually subside somewhat, for the most part they have not,' the victim writes in her letter to the board.

'Instead, the symptoms have become more ingrained, and it is with grief and despair that I've learned to accept that those symptoms will likely be a part of me for the rest of my life.'

Her identity is protected from publication by a court order.