For the entire second week of October the Cranbrook Courthouse was the location of the “long term offender” hearing for admitted child abductor, Randall Hopley.
Not a single person in or out of the Elk Valley has forgotten the 2011 kidnapping of 3 year-old Kienan Hebert, however the crown prosecutor, Lynal Doerksen, has now brought forth evidence that compels the jury to believe that Hopley may be a “long term offender”.
Several instances of assault and dangerous acts committed by Hopley have been presented to the jury over the past week. One included a case where Hopley had assaulted 3 fellow children in a foster home at the young age of 17. A few short years later Hopley was sent to prison for the sexual assault of a 5 year-old boy.
On September 7th of 2011 the Hebert family, who at the time was residing in Sparwood, woke up to find their three-year old son missing. Quickly after the disappearance an Amber Alert was issued and the entire Elk Valley went through large measures to search for the boy. A public plea was made by the Hebert parents begging Hopley to drop off young Kienan at a safe public place anonymously. After 4 days the boy was returned to his Sparwood home in the middle of the night.
The boy was returned quietly and appeared to be physically unharmed. Within another several days Hopley was tracked down to a cabin off the Crowsnest Lake where he had kept Kienan. Hopley claimed that he returned the boy because “he asked to go home”.
A report from the National Parole Board stated, "The seriousness of his offences has not registered with Mr. Hopley at all. There is no concern about the impact on his young victims.”
In the report it was specifically noted that Hopley had no desire to change and showed no remorse for his actions. It was reported that Hopley operates at the level of a grade 3 student, with an IQ of 65. A Corrections Services of Canada report said that Hopley suffers from a “serious disturbance in his psychosexual development”.
The court is hoping to have Hopley declared as a dangerous or long-term offender but should the jury decide that Hopley is a long-term offender, meaning that there is substantial risk of continued offending, Hopley will face an indeterminate prison sentence, without chance of parole for 7 years.
