Sexually Harmful Behaviours Research Lab
Lab members
Meet the researchers and students contributing to the SHB Lab’s research program.
Lab director
Dr. Kelly M. Babchishin
I am an Associate Professor at Carleton University (Department of Psychology) and an adjunct scientist with the University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research Institute (IMHR) at the Royal Ottawa Hospital. After completing my Ph.D. (forensic psychology, Carleton University), I completed a four year postdoctoral fellowship, two years of which was funded by a Banting postdoctoral fellowship (Canadian Institutes of Health Research). My postdoc was with IMHR (Dr. Michael Seto) and the Karolinska Institute Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (KI) in Sweden (Dr. Niklas Långström). After completing my postdoctoral studies, I was a researcher at Public Safety Canada and Parole Board of Canada where I directed research studies in corrections and assisted in initiatives and legislations to promote evidence-base best practices for individuals with criminal histories until my move to Carleton University in January 2022. I have received the Ontario Early Researcher Award, the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) Early Career Research Award, the John Charles Polanyi Prize (medicine), and the Royal Ottawa’s Inspiration Award (early career researcher) for my research. Our research is funded by tri-council agency grants (e.g., SSHRC IG), industry grants (e.g., Safe Online), and other funding agencies (e.g., MITACS).
Current team
Ph.D. students
Myles Davidson
Ph.D. student
is a third year PhD student in forensic psychology. Myles’ research interests include sexual sadism, involuntary celibacy, sextortion, and risk assessment. Myles’ dissertation will examine the structure of sexual sadism as a construct and explore its relationship with paraphilic coercion via the Agonistic Continuum. Myles’ dissertation research will help establish the construct validity of the Agonistic Continuum and determine how it can best be measured in different populations, with the end goal of his research being the development and validation of a scale that accurately captures sexual sadism as a dimensional construct. Prior to beginning his PhD studies, Myles completed his MSc in Applied Psychology (Forensics) and his BA (Hons’) in Criminology and Psychology, both at Saint Mary’s University. For his honours thesis, Myles conducted a systematic review of the criminological literature on sexual assault, while his master’s thesis examined consent violations in the context of BDSM communities.
Brooke Davis
Ph.D. student
ATSA Pre-doctoral Research Grant recipient. a second year PhD student in forensic psychology. Brooke’s research interests include cybercriminal behaviours and assessing the risk posed by cybercriminals, including for contact offending. Brooke’s PhD dissertation will be on online sexual solicitation of minors and will focus on better understanding who perpetrates this behaviour, the varying motivating and facilitating factors that drive this behaviour, and the risk of these perpetrators engaging in other criminal or harmful behaviours. Brooke completed an MA in social psychology at the University of Toronto, during which she conducted research on social comparisons in romantic relationships. Brooke also works full-time for the Government of Canada as a Cyber Threat Analyst.
Emma Holmes
Ph.D. student
is a third-year Ph.D. student in forensic psychology. Emma’s dissertation examines the validity of a physiological measure of the sexual interest in sexual coercion (penile plethysmography; PPG) among men who have committed a sexual offence. Emma’s dissertation research will help inform models of the sexual interest in coercion, and in applied practices, will allow for more specific and stronger inferences about how PPG results are relevant to reoffending. Emma’s MA thesis investigated a novel model of sibling sexual abuse, which found that factors related to sexual motivation (i.e., atypical sexual interests) were more consistently related to one’s propensity to engage in sibling sexual abuse than factors like antisociality or factors related to the proximity between siblings during their upbringing.
Current team
MA students
Anika Anderson
MA student
(co-supervised by Dr. Michael Seto) is a first-year MA student in Forensic Psychology at Carleton University. Her current research focuses on child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) use, risk, and prevention. She is also interested in examining differences in risk profiles between offending and non-offending child-attracted individuals. Anika graduated from MacEwan University with a BA (Hons.) in Psychology, where she examined trait narcissism and responses to ego threats among female-identifying undergraduate students.
Faye Arellano
MA student
Faye Arellano is a second year MA student in Forensic Psychology at Carleton University. Her thesis examines risk factors that distinguish males with sexual interest in children who have committed child sexual abuse offences from those who have not. Her broader research interests center on online sexual offending, risk profiles associated with child sexual abuse and CSAEM offending, and the assessment and prevention of sexually harmful behaviour. Faye is also a Forensic Research Analyst with the National Cold Case Initiative (NCCI), where she contributes to research on serial homicide and child homicide through database development and the analysis of spatial, relational, developmental, and motivational patterns. Outside of research, Faye enjoys discovering new study café spots around the city.
K. Joel Morrison
MA student
K. Joel Morrison (co-supervised by Dr. R. Karl Hanson) is a first year MA student in Forensic Psychology at Carleton University. His research interests are in predictive statistics and risk tool validation. Joel completed his B.Sc. Honours thesis at Carleton University on the predictive accuracy of the Static-99R sexual recidivism risk tool.
Annika MacDonald
MA student
is a second year MA candidate in forensic psychology at Carleton University. Her research interests include child sexual abuse and exploitation material (CSAEM) use and prevention, risk assessment, and recidivism risks for online and contact sexual offenses. Annika’s master’s thesis will examine the predictive validity of risk assessment tools for men with CSAEM offence convictions. Annika completed her BSc (Hons) in neuroscience at Dalhousie University. Her undergraduate thesis examined functional connectivity in response to smoking cues in individuals with psychosis.
Joelle Pagacz
MA student
(co-supervisor: Dr. Michael Seto) is a second-year MA student in forensic psychology. For her thesis, she is conducting meta-analyses on sextortion victimization and perpetration prevalence rates. This project will help clarify the scope of the issue, and pinpoint who is more at risk of engaging in sextortion. Before her studies at Carleton, Joelle completed her BSc in Psychology at the University of Ottawa. Her honours thesis examined minority identity in individuals with a sexual attraction to children.
Chella Robles
MA student
is a first-year MA student in Forensic Psychology at Carleton University. Her research interests include risk assessment, the use and prevention of child sexual exploitation materials (CSEM), and recidivism risk prediction for online and contact sexual offences, as well as broader offending behaviours, including intimate partner violence. Chella completed her BSc Honours in Psychology at MacEwan University. Her honours thesis investigated differences in the profiles and sentencing outcomes among three violent offending groups (non-partner sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and intimate partner sexual violence).
Anastasia Weir
MA student
Anastasia Weir is a first-year MA student in forensic psychology at Carleton University. Her research interests include sexual attraction to children, risk assessment, and incest offending, with a particular focus on understanding the role of family dynamics in predicting incest and other sexually harmful behaviours. Anastasia completed her BA (Hons) in Psychology with a concentration in forensic psychology at Carleton University. Her honours thesis examined relationships between self-control, violent attitudes, and violent behaviour.
Current team
Undergraduate students
Kaylin Boutilier
Undergraduate student
is a fourth-year undergraduate student concentrating in forensic psychology with a stream in mental health and well-being. Kaylin’s undergraduate thesis will examine whether penile plethysmography (PPG) indices (sexual assault, violence, and humiliation) have different correlates by utilizing data from males with histories of sexual offences against women in Quebec. Her research interests include the use and validity of risk assessments among youth with sexual offences as well as risk differences between youth and adults with sexual offences.
Melissa Elmas
Undergraduate student
is a fourth-year undergraduate student specializing in forensic psychology. Her undergraduate honours thesis will examine the correlations between penile plethysmography (PPG) indices, sexual interests, and characteristics of sexual offending.
Dotan Gorelov
Undergraduate student
Dotan is a fourth-year undergraduate student concentrating in forensic psychology. Dotan’s undergraduate thesis will examine penile plethysmography (PPG) indices and its associations with sexual interests, paraphilia diagnoses, and various crime scene characteristics in a sample of men with sexual homicide offences.
Alumni
Past graduate students
Abiraam Samithamby
Former MA student
completed his MA in Forensic Psychology at Carleton University in Summer 2026. His thesis examined individual-level, evolutionary, and familial risk factors for father-daughter intrafamilial child sexual abuse in a large sample of fathers. He has also completed research projects examining the use of fictional child sexual abuse and exploitation material, sibling sexual abuse, and sexual violence within the involuntary celibate community. Abiraam also gained clinical experience as a practicum student at the Sexual Behaviours Clinic, where he conducted clinical interviews with individuals referred for sexual behaviour concerns, including those under Section 21 orders. He is currently completing his PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Saskatchewan under the supervision of Dr. Mark Olver.
Melissa O’Donaghy
Former MA student
completed her MA in Fall 2025. For her thesis, she examined the risk profiles and correlates of child sexual offending among individuals searching for child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) on a large adult pornographic website. Other research interests include the measurement of pedophilic interests, risk assessment, and perpetration prevention programs. Melissa is now working within the federal government of Canada.
Serra Baskurt
Former MA student
is completed her MA in forensic psychology in Summer 2024. Serra’s thesis examined the recidivism rates among individuals who commit child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) offending through meta-analysis. Serra’s other research interests also include assessment and prediction of sexual violence, mentally disordered offenders, and cognitive distortions. Previously, Serra completed her BA (Hons) degree in Forensic Psychology at Ontario Tech University, where she researched the impact of empathy primary on rape supportive attitudes for those with psychopathic traits. She is now working in the Canadian Border Service Agency.
Gabriella Hilkes
Former MA student
completed her MA in forensic psychology. For her thesis, she conducted a thematic analysis of the family environments and life circumstances of adolescents who commit sexual offences against their sisters compared to adolescents with sisters but who offend against unrelated females. Gabriella has also gained research experience as a research assistant on the Forensic Research Unit at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. Gabriella has now completing her degree in Counselling Psychology at the University of Ottawa and is a practicing psychotherapist.
Emma Holmes
Former MA student
completed their MA in forensic psychology in Summer 2024. Emma’s thesis involves the examining risk and protective factors for sexual abuse between siblings using a community sample of siblings. They are now completing their Ph.D.
Kimberly Mularczyk
Former Ph.D. student
completed her Ph.D. specializing in forensic psychology and quantitative methodology at Carleton University in January 2023. Her dissertation centered on the roles of demographic, institutional, parole, and risk-relevant factors on the community reintegration outcomes of individuals serving federal sentences. Kimberly gained three and a half years of federal government experience working as a Research Assistant at the Parole Board of Canada in the Performance Measurement and Research Section, as well as at Public Safety Canada in the Corrections Research Unit. Kimberly is now working in provincial government as a Senior Research Analyst at BC Corrections in Victoria, BC.
Interested in joining the SHB Lab?
Review current opportunities and application information for research assistants, undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows.