The VRAG-R Development Committee

The Committee was formed to encourage research on the VRAG-R, to vet requests to use the data base, to maintain reliability of VRAG-R risk assessments by providing training and answering questions about scoring.

Members of the VRAG-R Development Committee

Maaike Helmus is an Assistant Professor of Criminology at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. Focusing her research on developing and validating risk assessment scales, she is part of the development team for several scales, including the VRAG-R, Static-99R, Static-2002R, STABLE-2007, ACUTE-2007, BARR-2002, and the RAST.

Brian Judd is a licensed psychologist and a certified sex offender treatment provider in Wahington State. He has been conducting risk assessments and providing treatment to violent and sexually violent offenders for over twenty years.

Martin Lalumière is Professor in the Clinical Program of the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa. He has conducted research in various areas of Forensic Psychology and Sexology.

Vern Quinsey is Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Biology, and Psychiatry at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. He was the Founding Director of Research at the Mental Health Centre in Penetanguishene, Ontario, and a co-author of the VRAG and VRAG-R.

Prof. Dr. Martin Rettenberger is the Director of the Centre for Criminology (Kriminologische Zentralstelle – KrimZ) in Wiesbaden, Germany, and is Professor at the Department of Psychology at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), Germany. He previously worked at the Federal Evaluation Centre for Violent and Sexual Offenders (FECVSO) in the Austrian Prison System in Vienna, Austria, and at the Institute of Sex Research and Forensic Psychiatry at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany. Since 2021, he is President elect of the International Association for the Treatment of Sexual Offenders (IATSO) and editor of the open access journal “Sexual Offending: Theories, Research, and Prevention” (SOTRAP). He has published more than 250 research articles, book chapter, and books about risk assessment, sexual and violent offending, and about several other aspects and topics in criminology and forensic psychology. As expert witness he is writing regularly risk assessment and treatment planning reports for different courts and correctional and forensic facilities and serves as a media expert for crime-related topics.

About Marnie and Grant

Grant Harris (1950-2014) was an Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychology at Queen’s University, a former Director of Research at the Mental Health Centre (and its successor, Waypoint) in Penetanguishene, Ontario, and a co-author of the VRAG and VRAG-R. A remembrance of Grant: http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/atsa/issues/2014-12-10/4.html

Marnie Rice (1948-2015) held adjunct academic appointments at McMaster University, the University of Toronto, and Queen’s. She was a former Director of Research at the Mental Health Centre in Penetanguishene, Ontario, and a co-author of the VRAG and VRAG-R. A remembrance of Marnie: https://vernquinsey.weebly.com/remembrances.html

Marnie Rice, Grant Harris and Vern Quinsey

Sonja Dey (Research Department Secretary), Vern Quinsey, Marnie Rice, and Grant Harris (1987)

Grant Harris with friend George Varney fishing at Chutes Provincial Park, the day before Grant died.