FUGITIVE IN CROSSBORDER LIMBO
Authorities can’t arrest Stanley
EDMONTON — With Canadian officials on his trail and a nationwide warrant for his arrest, a high-risk sex offender was able to flee over the border into Washington state, where police appear to have no authority to arrest him.
Edmonton police say Michael Sean Stanley, 48, was able to enter the United States on Monday evening. The Americanborn Stanley appears to have crossed the border despite the Canada-wide warrant that had been issued for his arrest last week, when he cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet and went on the run.
Edmonton Police Service Det. Chris Hayduk said authorities know where Stanley is, but he is not facing charges in the U.S., and the Canada-wide warrant for his arrest is not enforceable there.
Hayduk said American authorities were aware of Stanley’s situation when he was allowed into the country.
He crossed from British Columbia into Washington at the Blaine border crossing. Asked why American authorities let the wanted sex offender into the country, Hayduk said he didn’t know.
“That’s a question that they’re going to have to answer,” he said.
No one from U.S. Customs and BorderProtection could be reached for comment, because of the continuing U.S. government shutdown. Border security programs, including border patrol, remain operational under the government shutdown.
Stanley, 48, has a long history of violent and sexual offences, some of which have involved abducting children.
He was described in a 2006 court proceeding as having severe anti-social personality and psychopathic tendencies.
At the time, he was being sentenced for the assault and unlawful confinement of two mentally challenged boys he’d lured into his apartment.
Other convictions include the rape of a wheelchairbound 80-year-old woman in Lethbridge in 1988. Hayduk said Stanley also has previous convictions from the United States.
Stanley’s current run from authorities began Oct. 1, when his electronic monitoring bracelet was cut off and left on the roof of a business in Lloydminster. Stanley had been under monitoring by the Edmonton Police Service Behavioural Assessment Unit at the time.
The disappearance prompted a series of lockdowns at schools around Saskatchewan and in Lethbridge, where his SUV was found on Friday.
Stanley is reported to have family in the Lethbridge area.
Hayduk said police are now looking into how Stanley got from Lethbridge to B.C., and also why it took two days for Canadian authorities to find out he’d been able to leave the country.
Hayduk could not say whether Stanley is currently under police surveillance, nor would he say exactly where police believe Stanley to be.
He said police are currently exploring options around extradition, which would see Stanley brought back to Canada from the States.