Child abductor to be assessed
Admitted child abductor Randall Hopley made the bogeyman real, a British Columbia judge said Thursday as she ordered a psychiatric assessment for the man.
B.C. Supreme Court Judge Heather Holmes ordered a 60-day assessment to determine whether Hopley should be labelled as a dangerous or long-term offender. Hopley abducted three-year-old Kienan Hebert from his home in Sparwood, B.C., last September, only to return him unharmed several days later.
Holmes said Kienan and his family appear to have moved on from the ordeal, but she said the impact of Hopley’s crimes could have been far worse.
“In my view, common experience tells us there’s nothing more frightening to parents than to lose a child,” Holmes told a courtroom in Cranbrook, B.C.
“Mr. Hopley made the bogeyman real in their home. It seems like victims of such an event will never feel safe in their home again.”
The judge noted the Hebert family decided not to file a victim impact statement. “Mr. Hopley was lucky in his choice of victims,” said Holmes. “The family was able to cope and move forward.”
Hopley, who is now 47, pleaded guilty to breaking into the Hebert’s home in the middle of the night last September before taking the boy to a cabin at a nearby Bible camp.
Kienan was returned to his home four days after he was taken. Hopley was later arrested at the camp.
Hopley has insisted he never harmed or sexually assaulted the boy, and the Crown has presented no evidence that he did.