Convicted sex offender Randall Hopley arrested: Vancouver Police

The desperate search for a convicted child sex offender is over after police in Vancouver confirmed Tuesday morning Randall Hopley has been arrested.

Hopley failed to return to his halfway house in Vancouver on Nov. 4, sparking a Canada-wide warrant. More than a dozen full-time investigators had been searching for the man.

After disappearing, police said he had cut off his electronic monitoring device as the 58-year-old was worried about an upcoming court appearance and feared he would be returned to custody.

The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) says he was arrested in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside neighbourhood just after 6 a.m.

Police say Hopley was spotted by an off-duty officer outside the Vancouver Police Station on East Cordova Street and was arrested without incident.

The VPD says — after speaking with Hopley — it confirmed that his intention was to turn himself in because he was cold. Police say he likely ran out of resources and food.

“We believe on that date he left his halfway house, in the downtown east side, we believe he removed his ankle monitoring bracelet, his electronic monitoring bracelet, and took evasive steps to avoid police and to avoid detection for ten days,” said Sgt. Steve Addison.

“We did not stop investigating this. We understood absolutely the concern in the community, the fear and the uneasiness, that was caused by knowing that a person like Randall Hopley, with his history of violence, with his history of offences, was at large.”

Hopley served a six-year prison sentence after abducting a child in Sparwood, B.C. in 2011, sparking an Amber Alert. He was released in 2018 on a 10-year long-term supervision order and moved to a halfway house in Vancouver.

He had been scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 6, after being charged with two counts of violating his supervision order earlier this year after getting caught at a public library and being too close to children.

B.C. Premier David Eby previously said he was “deeply disturbed” Hopley has been able to essentially vanish and has criticized the National Parole Board for not placing him under stricter supervision.

“We share everybody’s relief that Hopley is now again back in custody, which is where he needs to be right now,” Addison added.

-With files from Sonia Aslam, Cole Schisler, Mike Lloyd, and The Canadian Press