09-13-2011, 12:53 AM
I'm so glad he was found, but this situation sounds very odd.
"Questions swirl about Kienan Hebert’s mysterious reappearance at home
September 13, 2011
12:10am EST
Police in Sparwood B.C. say they “facilitated” the return of a 3-year-old boy who was abducted for five days.
The statement went some way to answering the question that was on everyone’s mind in the B.C. town: How did Kienan Hebert’s abductor successfully return the child to his home without being detected by police?
RCMP spokesman Cpl. Dan Moskaluk was reported as stating Monday that police “facilitated” the boy’s return, but would not elaborate. Moskaluk noted that when Kienan’s parents made a public plea for their child’s return, there was mention of a safe place where that could be done.
Police received an anonymous 911 call around 3 a.m. Sunday telling them the boy was back at his parents’ home, five days after being abducted. Police found Kienan on the couch holding his blanket.
His safe return has left many perplexed Experts say it was an unprecedented twist.
“The community is relieved in a significant way because most children aren’t that fortunate,” Lois Halko, a town councillor, told the Toronto Star in a telephone interview.
But people are shocked, she adds, by how the abductor escaped capture when he returned to the original crime scene. “There is a lot of speculation,” she said. “There are all kinds of conspiracy theories — suggestions that the police tolerated that kind of return.”
The child’s father, Paul Hebert, fueled the speculation Monday by saying the family’s home was intentionally left unlocked before Kienan reappeared. Hebert declined to comment about why, or whether the police offered him any advice on the topic.
“We asked him to bring him back to a safe place, and he brought him back to our house,” Hebert said.
Hebert notes the family reached out to the suspect and asked that Kienan be returned to a safe place, and the doors were left unlocked for that purpose.
Hebert said Kienan seemed to be okay after the ordeal.
“Kienan’s still a little bit offset. If you’re a stranger, he won’t come and talk to you. But he’s doing really good; he’s happy to be home.”
The RCMP have said Kienan's disappearance was a case of abduction. Convicted sex offender Randall Hopley, 46, remains the sole suspect.
Glen Woods, former director of behavioural sciences for the RCMP, described the case as an “anomaly.”
“It’s very unusual for someone to go through the trouble of abducting and then returning a child,” he told the Star in a phone interview from Ottawa.
But even pedophile abductors are “not all necessarily psychopaths. Some of them do have remorse,” Woods added. In this case, he speculated the abductor may have “returned the child before it got to anything more serious.”
“It’s very unusual, but perhaps the personality of this guy is such that he was feeling remorse, and when he saw the pleas from the parents, that was enough to get him to return the child.”
Woods said Sparwood RCMP had little reason to keep an eye on the house where the child was eventually returned, given that most kidnappings of this kind end badly. Still, in a small community like Sparwood, “it would have been relatively easy to keep an eye on the house.”
Sharon Fraser, the Acting Mayor in the coal mining town of 4,000, doesn’t blame the RCMP for not revealing their methods. But like a growing number of residents, she remains perplexed and would like some answers.
“I’ve known this man for years,” Fraser said of the suspect in a phone interview with the Toronto Star on Monday. “The suspect is the kind of guy he could be standing beside you one minute and then he takes off on his bicycle and you wouldn’t even realize he was gone. He’s like Houdini.”
After the boy’s return, the police tape was placed around the entire block. Later in the day investigators were scouring the house once again for more forensic evidence.
Hopley, 46, has a criminal record dating back to the 1980s, when he served a two-year federal prison sentence after he was convicted of sexual assault.
In 2007, he was charged with break and enter, unlawful confinement and attempted abduction, and the indictment for the case indicated the victim was under 16 years old.
B.C.’s Criminal Justice Branch has confirmed Hopley pleaded guilty to break and enter and was sentenced to 18 months in jail, while the other charges were stayed. Crown spokesman Neil MacKenzie said Hopley admitted at trial that he attempted to abduct a 10-year-old boy, who was in foster care at the time. Hopley claimed he was acting on behalf of the child’s parents.
With Kienan safe, the hunt for Hopley continues.
RCMP officers stopped hundreds of vehicles at roadblocks, checking in back seats and ordering drivers to pop their trunks to make sure that Hopley was not catching a ride.
Moskaluk had a message for him. “Randall, if you’re listening, you need to reach out to the police,” he said."
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/artic...ce-at-home
"Questions swirl about Kienan Hebert’s mysterious reappearance at home
September 13, 2011
12:10am EST
Police in Sparwood B.C. say they “facilitated” the return of a 3-year-old boy who was abducted for five days.
The statement went some way to answering the question that was on everyone’s mind in the B.C. town: How did Kienan Hebert’s abductor successfully return the child to his home without being detected by police?
RCMP spokesman Cpl. Dan Moskaluk was reported as stating Monday that police “facilitated” the boy’s return, but would not elaborate. Moskaluk noted that when Kienan’s parents made a public plea for their child’s return, there was mention of a safe place where that could be done.
Police received an anonymous 911 call around 3 a.m. Sunday telling them the boy was back at his parents’ home, five days after being abducted. Police found Kienan on the couch holding his blanket.
His safe return has left many perplexed Experts say it was an unprecedented twist.
“The community is relieved in a significant way because most children aren’t that fortunate,” Lois Halko, a town councillor, told the Toronto Star in a telephone interview.
But people are shocked, she adds, by how the abductor escaped capture when he returned to the original crime scene. “There is a lot of speculation,” she said. “There are all kinds of conspiracy theories — suggestions that the police tolerated that kind of return.”
The child’s father, Paul Hebert, fueled the speculation Monday by saying the family’s home was intentionally left unlocked before Kienan reappeared. Hebert declined to comment about why, or whether the police offered him any advice on the topic.
“We asked him to bring him back to a safe place, and he brought him back to our house,” Hebert said.
Hebert notes the family reached out to the suspect and asked that Kienan be returned to a safe place, and the doors were left unlocked for that purpose.
Hebert said Kienan seemed to be okay after the ordeal.
“Kienan’s still a little bit offset. If you’re a stranger, he won’t come and talk to you. But he’s doing really good; he’s happy to be home.”
The RCMP have said Kienan's disappearance was a case of abduction. Convicted sex offender Randall Hopley, 46, remains the sole suspect.
Glen Woods, former director of behavioural sciences for the RCMP, described the case as an “anomaly.”
“It’s very unusual for someone to go through the trouble of abducting and then returning a child,” he told the Star in a phone interview from Ottawa.
But even pedophile abductors are “not all necessarily psychopaths. Some of them do have remorse,” Woods added. In this case, he speculated the abductor may have “returned the child before it got to anything more serious.”
“It’s very unusual, but perhaps the personality of this guy is such that he was feeling remorse, and when he saw the pleas from the parents, that was enough to get him to return the child.”
Woods said Sparwood RCMP had little reason to keep an eye on the house where the child was eventually returned, given that most kidnappings of this kind end badly. Still, in a small community like Sparwood, “it would have been relatively easy to keep an eye on the house.”
Sharon Fraser, the Acting Mayor in the coal mining town of 4,000, doesn’t blame the RCMP for not revealing their methods. But like a growing number of residents, she remains perplexed and would like some answers.
“I’ve known this man for years,” Fraser said of the suspect in a phone interview with the Toronto Star on Monday. “The suspect is the kind of guy he could be standing beside you one minute and then he takes off on his bicycle and you wouldn’t even realize he was gone. He’s like Houdini.”
After the boy’s return, the police tape was placed around the entire block. Later in the day investigators were scouring the house once again for more forensic evidence.
Hopley, 46, has a criminal record dating back to the 1980s, when he served a two-year federal prison sentence after he was convicted of sexual assault.
In 2007, he was charged with break and enter, unlawful confinement and attempted abduction, and the indictment for the case indicated the victim was under 16 years old.
B.C.’s Criminal Justice Branch has confirmed Hopley pleaded guilty to break and enter and was sentenced to 18 months in jail, while the other charges were stayed. Crown spokesman Neil MacKenzie said Hopley admitted at trial that he attempted to abduct a 10-year-old boy, who was in foster care at the time. Hopley claimed he was acting on behalf of the child’s parents.
With Kienan safe, the hunt for Hopley continues.
RCMP officers stopped hundreds of vehicles at roadblocks, checking in back seats and ordering drivers to pop their trunks to make sure that Hopley was not catching a ride.
Moskaluk had a message for him. “Randall, if you’re listening, you need to reach out to the police,” he said."
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/artic...ce-at-home