Child abductor to live in Vancouver, police warn
VANCOUVER — Vancouver police have issued a public warning about a high-risk offender moving into the city who was at the centre of a high-profile abduction case in 2011.
Police said Thursday that Randall Hopley, 53, poses a risk of significant harm to the safety of young boys.
Hopley has served his entire six-year sentence for breaking into a home in Sparwood in September 2011 and abducting a three-year-old boy.
A National Parole Board decision released to the Canadian Press says Hopley continues to be assessed as a high risk for sexual offending against children.
The Correctional Service of Canada called for a “structured release plan and zero tolerance” for Hopley should he not abide by his release conditions, the decision says.
Hopley pleaded guilty in 2013 to abducting the sleeping boy from a secondfloor bedroom in his family’s home. He kept the child for four days before returning him physically unharmed after his parents made a public plea.
Const. Jason Doucette, spokesman for the Vancouver Police Department, said at a news conference that Hopley moved into the city on Thursday.
Doucette said Hopley will be living in a residential correctional facility but wouldn’t reveal the location.
“It’s citywide and I would even say into other municipalities, because we’ve got a great transit system. He may have an address today that may change tomorrow.”
The police want people to familiarize themselves with his photo and release conditions, and call 911 if he is in violation of them, he said.
The Parole Board documents say Hopley is bound by a 10-year supervision order in an effort to manage his risks and his conditions, including not being in the presence of any child younger than 16 and abiding by a curfew.
Hopley is described as five-foot-nine, 150 pounds, with brown hair, hazel eyes and he often wears a beard.
His sentence expires Nov. 12. The board ordered the 10-year supervision order be maintained. He remains under a lifetime firearms prohibition.