Randall Hopley promised to fix Michelle Lea McCann's truck, and while he had the vehicle earlier this year, the two got to know each other. The middle-aged handyman from the southeast corner of British Columbia would drive her between the tiny communities of Sparwood and Fernie to pick up groceries and medicines.
In April, Ms. McCann confronted him outside the Sparwood library. He had ruined her truck. She now had to pay someone else to do the job right. She threatened to go to the police. Moments later, he came right at her.
"He punched me in the right cheek, the right eye, right behind my ear, kicked me to the ground and started to kick me in my back. He broke my glasses," she recalled in an interview.
Ms. McCann ended up in the local hospital's trauma ward for a few days. She left Sparwood as soon as she was released from hospital, afraid of Mr. Hopley, who had been charged in her assault and was out on bail. Weeks later, on June 16, Mr. Hopley was convicted of assault and sentenced to two months in jail and two years probation.
Ms. McCann was only one of his many victims. Mr. Hopley, a convicted sex offender, has a 26-year history of run-ins with the law that includes 12 break-ins, theft and sexual-assault cases related to matters involving children, according to court records and media reports.
Paul and Tammy Hebert believe they are his most recent victims. Their three-year-old son Kienan was abducted from their Sparwood home last week, only to be mysteriously returned safe and sound four days later. Mr. Hopley is charged with kidnapping Kienan, abduction and break and enter of their home. He's currently in custody and a psychiatric assessment has been ordered to see if he's fit to stand trial.
"The judge and the system failed us," Mr. Hebert told reporters, without pointing to any specific court case. "[Mr.] Hopley needs help and the system didn't give him the help he needed and because of that ... my family got hurt."
Mr. Hebert may well be right. There were compelling reasons, spanning two provinces, that should have kept Mr. Hopley, 46, in jail through at least the summer.
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University of Victoria law professor Gerry Ferguson, co-author of the Annual Review of Criminal Law 2010, said the prosecution could have taken a tougher approach in the McCann case and the court could have imposed a longer sentence.
Mr. Hopley was charged summarily in B.C. Provincial Court with common assault, which has a maximum penalty of six months. The Crown could have pursued a charge of assault with bodily harm, which has a maximum penalty of 18 months in jail, Prof. Ferguson said.
Also, even under the common assault charge, the judge could have imposed a sentence closer to the upper limit of six months, based on Mr. Hopley's criminal record and repeated failure to comply with court orders, Prof. Ferguson said.
When he was convicted of assault, Mr. Hopley was on probation after serving time in jail for a November, 2007, break-in and on bail awaiting trial in Alberta. Two weeks before the assault trial, he had been sentenced to 63 days in jail for failing to comply with his probation order and for breaching his bail conditions on three occasions. "On the face of it, two months seems lenient. Six to 15 months would not have sounded unreasonable," Prof. Ferguson said.
Crown spokesman Neil MacKenzie said the criminal charge reflected the circumstances of the case. Crown had thought an appropriate sentence for the crime would be two or three months and a period of probation, Mr. MacKenzie said.
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Mr. Hopley faces a break-and-entry charge and other property crimes in Alberta. He could have been hauled back to Alberta for violating bail conditions pending trial.
The charges relate to a squatter, alleged to be Mr. Hopley, found in a vacant cabin on Crownest Lake. The cabin had been transformed, according to its owners, into a disturbing den for children. Police found sexual paraphernalia, kids' clothing and a new room that was constructed and fixed with a lock from the outside.
Initially, an Alberta court denied Mr. Hopley bail, in part because of public safety concerns raised by the presence of the children's items. But his Lethbridge lawyer, Greg White, successfully appealed. Mr. Justice L.D. Wilkins said raising the issues of children's things "coloured" the proceedings and ordered Mr. Hopley released on $1,000 bail, pending his next court appearance, which was supposed to be next week but is now delayed until Sept. 27.
But once he breached his bail conditions last spring – notably, his conviction for assault – the Alberta court system could have thrown him back in jail. Josh Stewart, a spokesman with Alberta Justice, said Alberta was aware of the breach in B.C., could have taken action against Mr. Hopley and decided not to, but he couldn't say why since the matter is before the courts.
Criminal law expert and former Alberta crown prosecutor Sanjeev Anand said he wouldn't be surprised if the cost of transporting Mr. Hopley back to Alberta, and incarcerating him there, were the reasons why officials in Alberta ignored the B.C. breaches to his Alberta bail conditions.
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Mr. Hopley could have received a sentence of more than 18 months in 2008 for a break-in the previous year, when he allegedly attempted to kidnap a 10-year-old boy. He pleaded guilty to break and enter, with intent to commit an indictable offence, which comes with a maximum sentence of life in prison. But despite 11 previous break-and-enter convictions, he received only 18 months in jail in addition to five months he had served while waiting for his trial. Also, he had been charged with unlawful confinement and attempted abduction but the charges were dropped for lack of evidence.
A search of his residence at the time uncovered a number of large photographs and negatives of the 10-year-old, along with medical prescriptions in the boy's name. An RCMP document stated that their files showed Mr. Hopley kept photographs of young children. According to a local newspaper report of the sentencing, Provincial Court Judge Ron Webb noted, "The charge will show up as a break-and-enter … It's better seen as an attempt to kidnap a vulnerable 10-year-old from his foster parents."
Prosecution spokesman Mr. MacKenzie declined to say whether Crown counsel and defence made a deal to have Mr. Hopley plead guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence. The sentence of 18 months was consistent with what the Crown was seeking, he said.
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Mr. Hopley's mother agrees with Mr. Hebert that her son needs help. When he was just 21 months old, his father, a mechanic, was one of 15 men killed in an explosion at the Balmer North coal mine. The boy spent his childhood getting into mischief, squabbling with his siblings and moving in and out of foster homes, according to his 70-year-old mother, Margaret Fink. He also had mental health problems, though she's not sure what kind, and was on medication.
"He does need really big help," she said. "He needed help a long time ago."