Randall Hopley given six years, declared long-term offender
Posted November 29, 2013 2:35 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CRANBROOK (NEWS1130) – Randall Hopley has been sentenced to six years in prison and declared a long-term offender for abducting a three-year-old boy from his home in Sparwood two years ago.
Crown was pushing for the dangerous offender status against the 48-year-old to keep him in prison indefinitely.
But Justice Heather Holmes told the court that Hopley didn’t meet the criteria for dangerous offender status. She said Hopley’s sex assaults on children as a teen are too far removed to form a repetitive pattern of behaviour.
Instead, Holmes designated Hopley a long-term offender.
Samantha Hume with the Crown says his sentence will come with 10 years of supervision after his release. “It may look similar to a very strict probation order. He’ll have conditions to report to a long term supervision supervisor who is with the correction service and he’ll be on very strict conditions.”
“He was also given a consecutive one year in custody in relation to a separate break and enter that had happened in the Crows Nest Pass,” adds Hume.
With time already spent in custody taken into account, Hopley will serve another five years behind bars.
Today, court also heard how the Hebert family has been remarkably compassionate towards Hopley, sending him greeting cards in jail.
Kienan was abducted in the middle of the night from his bedroom in Sparwood in September 2011, prompting an Amber Alert. The boy was held in an abandoned cabin for four days he was returned home.
