Molester, dangerous offender has parole application denied

A man who broke into a Surrey child’s bedroom and molested her seven years ago has had his application for parole denied.

Kyle Wayne Berkson, 43, is serving an indeterminate prison sentence after being deemed a dangerous offender. He was convicted in 2011 of break-and-enter to commit sexual assault with a weapon, sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching and uttering threats.

The assault took place in April 2010, when Berkson snuck into the nine-year-old girl’s bedroom in the middle of the night, sexually touched her and threatened her. He left his DNA and a prescription pill bottle bearing his name at the scene. He was arrested less than a month after the incident.

Berkson previously committed a sexual assault against a young boy in the mid-1990s and after his arrest for the 2010 incident, child pornography was found on his computers. He also has a lengthy history of drug and property offences.

The Parole Board of Canada has a duty to review Berkson’s case periodically because his sentence has no defined length, and it decided on Tuesday to deny both day and full parole.The board found Berkson’s violent criminal history and failure to appear in court to answer to charges “concerning.”