Randall Hopley -- Vancouver Police photo

By Dori Modney with files from LNN and The Canadian Press

Parole board recommends new criminal charge against Randall Hopley

Aug 26, 2019 | 5:22 PM

VANCOUVER — A 54-year old man convicted of abducting a young boy from his home in Sparwood, B.C. in 2011, is facing another criminal charge after a parole board recommended the charge for failing to comply with supervision orders.

Randall Hopley abducted three year old Kienan Hebert from a second flood bedroom while he was sleeping in September 2011. The boy was returned home, unharmed, four days after the child’s parents made a public plea.

Hopley was picked up a day later on the Alberta side of the border with B.C. and was eventually sentenced to seven years in prison, after pleading guilty to charges of abducting the child, breaking and entering and possession of stolen property He also received another 10 years of supervision following his release.

Hopley was also designated a long-term offender after various courts heard that he sexually assaulted young children while living in a foster home as a teen.

In November of 2017, a federal parole board determined Hopley was likely to commit sexual offences against a child if released from prison. It was learned he had not participated in rehabilitation programming and had declined to participate in psychological assessments.

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The board stated there was no indication Hopley had reduced his risk to the community and it was recommended he complete a sex offender program and demonstrate insight into his crimes before his case was reviewed the following year.

In November of 2018, after serving almost five years of his sentence, Hopley was released under a long-term supervision order to a residential facility in Vancouver, with extensive restrictions. At that time, police issued a warning that Hopley posed a risk of significant harm to the safety of young boys. The Correctional Service of Canada also assessed Hopley as a high risk for violent and sexual re-offending. A Parole Board decision released Monday, August 26, 2019, states police received information a month after Hopley’s release that he allegedly sent a letter to a high-profile sex offender on supervision suggesting a relationship, offering the offender gifts and a cellphone so they could discuss previous criminal matters.

In June, the decision says Hopley acted threateningly towards a parole supervisor and when officers were sent to pick him up he resisted arrest.

The Board decision, dated Aug. 16, states, “It appears Hopley’s risk is unmanageable and recommends the Crown charge Hopley with breaching his conditions.”

The decision indicates Hopley hasn’t developed significant insight into his risks, particularly his sexual risk factors.

“When you were provided with information you did not agree with, you lost control of your emotions, deflected responsibility from yourself to your former parole supervisor and behaved in a threatening and obstructive manner. When police came to your door, you resisted.”

The decision states Hopley hasn’t accepted responsibility for the circumstances for his previous parole suspensions and has no insight into his sexually deviant or high-risk behaviour.