Why In the Hell Was Randall Hopley Out Among Us Anyway???????
While you’re reading this Randall Hopley, the abductor of young Kienan Hebert, will be riding in the back of an RCMP transport vehicle on his way to B.C. from Alberta where he was apprehended this morning.
Presumably, this deranged nutter Hopley will face the law and be locked up for the rest of his life.
He should have NEVER been out in the first place.
It is yet another damning indictment on our criminal justice system–that seems to give ONLY that–a free ride to criminals. The examples are glaring, but none moreso than problems like Hopley.
In 1985, he was convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to two years in federal prison. Hopley finished serving that term in September 1987 and has had run-ins with the law ever since. Provincial court records show numerous convictions including this last June when he was sentenced to two months in jail and two months of probation after he was convicted of assault. The assault occurred in April of this year in Sparwood.
In November 2007, he was charged with break-and-enter, unlawful confinement and attempted abduction. Sound familiar?
Hopley pleaded guilty to the break-and-enter and was sentenced to 18 months in jail, but the unlawful confinement and attempted abduction were stayed over concerns about evidence.
A year earlier in 2006 Hopley was convicted for a break-and-enter in Sparwood, when he received a conditional sentence of nine months.
In 2003, he received a one-year conditional sentence for theft under $5,000, and in 2002 he was handed a three-month conditional sentence after he was convicted of break-and-enter.
Hopley also has several convictions for breaching conditions–and wait for it, according to authorities, SEVERAL incidents “involving children.”
Through it all, he served minimal time in jail and eventually roamed free to, this time, prey upon the Hebert family. Who’s next?
Unbelievable!
After that infernal Trudeau brought in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, that put a lawyer on every goddamned cobblestone, many of us started asking when someone was going to bring in the ‘Charter of Responsibilities’!
Criminologists are telling us that general crime is declining. Great, so what? Abortion and education are the causes of that. But the criminals that remain, who, like Hopley are completely without a hope of rehabilitation, are still preying upon innocent families. Is there a damn study these idiots in their ivory towers that will make us feel better about the next Kienan?
If this continues, you have to ask yourselves: How long before vigilantes take to the streets and start eliminating sickos like Hopley?
Is this the kind of society our courts, our police and politicians are framing for our children and grandchildren?
It sure seems that way.
What kind of bloody useless courts are we running? Where are all the police advocacy groups and unions? Why are they not piping up and DEMANDING public safety be made top priority? Why are SOME politicians (hello to the NDP and Liberals) trying to put more pressure on the federal government to have LESS STRINGENT laws where criminal behavior is concerned?
No wonder the Tories won big in the last election, in no small part because of their law and order agenda.
If you pour over the two dozen papers I go through every day–many from across this country, the Hopleys of the world are abundant.
If there is one thing we can all agree on is that people like Hopley don’t fall through the cracks: His troubling freedom is endemic of our system.
Look at this demented maggot and tell me, accompanied by all the stories of honest, hardworking townsfolk that knew him, plus his extensive criminal record, that the RCMP shouldn’t feel first lucky and then ashamed?
And again….a total waste of human cells…
Our system is a joke.
We got lucky this time. No?
How much more would you care if, God forbid, Kienan Hebert was lying in the morgue today?
Alex raises some good questions which will not be addressed until the laws are significantly overhauled. Meanwhile, this bottom feeder hardly deserves free room and board on the taxpayers’ nickel. He should be put down.
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You won’t catch me running for the Kleenex box.
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Or he should be locked up in a mental institution with the key thrown out.
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Yup. Works too. Just very costly.
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David Trott is a perfect example.
IMHO, he should be fried but because of the pussification of Canada’s legal system he gets a nice warm bed in the puzzle factory every night.
Something is very wrong here.
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Here’s a little more detail.
http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_similkameen/kelownacapitalnews/news/129631338.html
This from 2008 conviction and note the judges comment.
“This charge will show up as a break-and-enter,” Webb said. “It’s better seen as an attempt to kidnap a vulnerable 10-year-old from his foster parents.”
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And it was ignored….incredible.
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Randall Hopley somehow overcame his demons and did the right thing by returning Kienan home virtually unharmed. We all know that this outcome is extremely rare. There has to be some good in this person to do what he did. jmho
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With all due respect: Gimme a break.
How do you know he returned young Kienan because that thin line between abductor and murderer hadn’t been crossed yet?
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Hopley’s motive for sure could have been self serving. That fine line between abductor and murderer is usually mere hours not four days. That’s why it’s my opinion that there is some good left in the man, not a whole lot but some. jmho
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You’re unbelievable. You know the mindset of every abductor do you? You can speak definitively of this, can you?
I’m just guessing here, but airing on the side of caution just might be in the best interest of the public.
But don’t let me interfere with your defence of a guy who screws with the lives little children.
Geezus…
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Not defending him just offering my humble opinion! I won’t bother doing so again.
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No need to get defensive. It’s simple: That’s the way you came across.
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ARE YOU KIDDING ME.
That useless piece of skin never overcame anything. I think he simply figured out that the law would be a lot easier on him if he let the kid go.
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This is a good point. He actually now qualifies for the Order of British Columbia!
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For Hopley’s defense lawyer, this might be a slam-dunk.
He will use the Bart Simpson defense:
“I didn’t do it.”
“Nobody saw me do it.”
(And nobody did. And nobody saw him return the boy.)
“And, you can’t prove a thing.”
What happened to the word “alleged” you morons?
Has anyone seen any proof? Has Hopley confessed?
Tsakumis, you and your posse remind of a lynch mob.
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Says the man hiding behind a fake name.
1) The prejudice you are claiming (under all that barely comprehensible lather, this is the crux of your argument) must be coming from the RCMP and other related sources. Media opinion pieces are not considered police material unless the defence can show, with more than a mere supposition, that this has indeed transpired, it won’t work.
2) In point of fact, one media source in Kelowna and another in Kamloops have been reporting through confidential sources claiming Hopley was indeed the abductor and….
Lo and behold, it’s conformed by CKNW, Global and CTV that Hopley has now been charged on multiple counts related to his abduction of Kienan Hebert, with further charges pending.
Please play Mr. Asshole-Know-It-All on a blog where a) the principle is an imbecile and b) the readers are bleeding heart morons that want some whackjob terrorizing a small community, so that nice folks like you can pretend we live in a just society.
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AGT you accuse Mr. Blessin of not using his own name, just as you accuse the alleged abductor Hopley of a crime on hearsay evidence. I know Mr. Blessin, he lives here in Kamloops, call him he would love to talk to you. You seem to have stereotyped Hopley as a child molester, and you have his picture on your blog, scary stuff, any media hack would be proud of you. Now why don’t you put your picture up there , right beside Hopley’s, I am sure many people would pick you as a molester. I am not defending Hopley, I am defending ones right to be innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. I oppose comments that lynch someone without proof.
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Obviously, you’re one of the people who:
a) Don’t understand the principle of innocent until proven guilt as it applies vs. making statements based on incontrovertible facts.
b) Can’t understand that Mr. Blessin broke several commenting rules here, as you have (but I’m allowing you’re idiotic thoughts through, as I will shred them in the next point below). He is a well-known, very aggressive atheist who has been scolded and tossed from other websites for insane comments. He often comments here when I use the closing ‘God bless’ in some of my more personal posts. Stupidity on his side, God on mine. Hmm, I like those odds…
c) Need to see a mental health professional when you make statements like the one you did of me. My picture, BTW, is at the top of blog banner on the right hand side. In fact, there are several of them there.
d) No matter how evidence is presented are unable to comprehend it.
But to show you what idiots you and your friend Mr. Blessin really are, have a read of this:
“Sex toys, various lotions and lubricants, diapers, children’s movies and “hundreds” of pieces of kids’ clothing were strewn among boxes of chocolate bars and Twinkies.”
That was what was found in Hopley’s sick sex lair. Oh, ‘What sex lair?’ you ask….
This one you moron:
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2011/09/13/18682581.html
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So ‘we’ close mental hospitals, reduce services to the people with mental problems so ‘we’ can save money!! And end up with this… F*ck me gently.
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Yup. Pathetic.
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An interesting complaint from the VPD yesterday about the amount of mentally disturbed people on the streets of the downtown east side.
” We arent social workers.”
They also went on to say that they were overwhelmed by the time spent arresting mentally disturbed people, having no where to take them, placing them in jail only to have them released by a judge.
Mr Trudeau’s legacy of emptying the asylums and then closing them?
Gotta love politicians of ALL stripes.
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I have some thoughts on this issue and will be sharing them with you tomorrow. Included will be a link to an online column written by a 30+ year cop who retired after a storied career that included stints on the DTES and on the gang squad.
He also happens to be a good friend and an avid reader of this blog.
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Well at least Alex, the Main Stream Media are finally asking the HARD questions.
Question #2 at the R.C.M.P. Media Scrum at 4:PM Pacific Time:
“what was the Police Dogs name that apprehended him”?
You can’t make this stuff up Alex.
Cheers
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I know. Unbelievable.
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The Habitual Criminals section would have taken care of Mr. Hopley but it was repealed by Trudeau et al. Reintroducing it would give some credence to the Conservatives’ claim of being a ‘Law & Order’ government. Most of what they’ve done so far has just been window dressing.
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Of course, along with so many others evil things Trudeau did that screwed this country royally–truly one of our absolute worst Prime Ministers.
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Come on Bob, window dressing? If that is so, why is every group in Canada to the left of Ghengis Khan calling it a terrible injustice inflicted on poor misunderstood delinquents? The conservatives have only started on their majority and there is a helluva lot to do. How long have the Liberals been in power the past 40 years, and what got done? Better to question what got undone, and if you’re expecting something better from the NDP – well you’ll deserve what you get.
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If you’re thinking Bob is some bleeding heart, think again. He’s as right wing as you! LOL!
But his point is well-made: Thus far, we’ve got a government that made promises to get tougher. I believe they will, but so far, all they’ve done is lace up the gloves. I’d like to see at least a flurry of one-twos and a couple of upper cuts would be nice….
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This maggot should have been flown back and accidently allowed to slide out the open door on a hard bank at 30,000 feet. I agree with you Alex, our courts are a joke. Heard on the news tonight that he was let go once because crown didn’t bother to tell the judge that that particular incident involved a kid. Past pathetic !!!!
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Indeed.
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Alex,
Congratulations on another well researched piece, with very persuasive arguments to support your point of view.
But please, be aware of the potential impact of sentences like the following on just a few of your tens of thousands of readers: ”
If this continues, you have to ask yourselves: How long before vigilantes take to the streets and start eliminating sickos like Hopley?”
Yes, I believe the courts are too lenient. Yes, I believe the Charter should be accompanied by a Charter of Responsibiilities. Yes, I believe that in some cases, vigilantism may be justified.
But anybody going down that road (vigilantism) better have ALL the relevant facts of a case and be dam sure they are taking action against the right person, for the right reasons, as well as be aware of the repercussions of those actions.
My concern is that, with your growing audience and your unquestioned impact on the views of your readers, that someone may read that quote and use it as inappropriate justification for taking an action that they mistakenly believe that Alex “supports”.
Be aware of the power of your words, Alex, and use it wisely.
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You’re right, and I thought of this as I was writing it. However, I think I was careful in the way I phrased it. I was being plaintive, frankly. Of course no one wants to see vigilantism. It’s wrong–period.
Thank you for your thoughtfulness.
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It would be interesting to know whether this particular kind of criminality is getting worse, or are we all just more aware of these kinds of things now due to the 24 hour news cycle, internet, etc. ? No question that if you kill or permanently incarcerate an individual, that person can do no more harm….However I think statistically we’ll probably always have some (hopefully small) portion of the gene pool that goes sideways like this – this stuff will not always be clearly preventable. (as it seems to have been here)
On balance the publicity is probably good because there are undeniable benefits to awareness, but I wonder about the fear that gets whipped up as a result and whether the actual threat here is really increasing, objectively-speaking. A generalized climate of fear, justified or not, is another devastating outcome of these incidents.
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Very good points. I fear that either way, it’s still out there and someone has to do something about it AND (!!!) the perpetrator must pay!!!
No sense in letting the culprit go to have him do the same.
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ACTUALLY, the reason “given” during the 1990s for closure of Riverview(a SECURE mental facility) and the down grading of Colony Farm to a rest home, was because such facilities were deemed “inhumane” by the “social progressives”.
In a 1997 forensic report to the then Minister of Health “Oh” Joy Macphail, the government was advised that the structure that had been set up to enable mentally ill patients to be “integrated” into the community was in fact costing MORE and the treatment and care of patients had been reduced significantly. Mentally ill patients in the care of various “associations” were not being properly supervised and their medications had become “voluntary”. The end effect was the mentally ill had been put at risk of abuse by others, self-abuse, misadventure and a litany of other dangers. At the same time, the people tasked with the care of the “community-oriented patients” were reducing care in favour of increasing the percentage of tax funded income that was directed to profit-making investments.
The report was the result of an investigation by the Ministry of the A.G. into complaints by police and emergency health responders who were observing an alarming number or mentally-ill on the streets and getting into serious difficulties.In turn, it was rapidly becoming impossible to secure such people from harm.
The report was summarily deposited in the “round file” and no action was ever taken by that government or any succeeding one.
It is not socially acceptable to secure someone from harm, either to themselves or others. The do-gooders, social activists and snivel-rightists AND the governments and judges who have gone along with them, have made it absolutely impossible to provide any real secure treatment of the mentally ill.
I happen to know what was found in the investigation and what was in that report to the AG and Min. of Health, because I did them both.
j
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Wow! Call me tomorrow. I’m preparing a post on this. Thx!
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Looking forward to hearing the truth on this whole outrageous business. McPhailure is one of the most revolting politicians and persons, I have ever dealt with.
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I rember when Riverview was closed and at the time I wondered where all these poor sods had to go.
I worked in the area and all of my coworkers and I felt that there was no support for the people, and they were just dumped on the street.
They were just pushed off to the crimanal branch .
I do not think that we are hurting people with real medical problems by looking after them.
My mother had dementia and had to be looked after in a secure hospital.
I feel that it was the best that my father and I could do.
Some decisions have to be made, they are difficult but not evil.
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After this report came out i am still waiting for a government to say maybe we made a mistake and reopen Riverview.
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Bravo!
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Thanks Jack.
I had a look at this a couple of years ago. BC is not the only jurisdiction that bought the “social progressives” argument of lower costs … in fact, I think it’s at least NA wide. Governments all over bought this nonsense.
DTES (and Hopely) is just another unintended consequence of stupid decisions … of course, only in the need of more money to make them a success … lots and lots more money.
I can remember a time when a rational man would say the system failed the Kienans, not the Hopelys.
BTW: Did you know that if you are going to work with anyone in the vulnerable sector (teachers, coaches, etc) you have to do a police check. If you are the same sex, have the same birthday, and born in the same city as a sexual offender … you must get a fingerprint check to see if you are the defiant. Last I heard, about 40%+ are getting fingerprinted. Nothing to worry about … the system is taking care of your children.
Stats are a bitch.
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Of course Mr. Hopely should not have been at large.
But my gut feeling says there’s more, to this than we’re being told.
I thought the Father’s demeanour in the TV interviews was odd for a parent facing this sort of thing. Equally odd was the role of the RCMP in Alberta, a scant few kilometers from Sparwood.
Something is strange… I don’t know what.
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I hate to say it but I agree. Maybe he reacted differently because of all the media attention, it’s possible, I don’t know. But I would be seething. Hopley would wish the cops found him before I did. The dad looked too calm. Don’t know what that means either. Probably nothing.
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I hope you’re right.
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My humble opinion is the dad looked and acted calm in order to support the rest of his family. His wife was likely a frantic mess during the entire ordeal, and they have seven other children. It doesn’t help if both parents completely lose it, because then who will keep a level front?
As for the RCMP in Alberta not posting the Amber Alert because they weren’t properly notified by the BC RCMP – total horse crap, if you ask me. There should be an investigation as to what happened as that was totally unacceptable.
(sorry for the late comment, Alex…I’m a few days late in checking in on your posts…life has a way of getting in the way)
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No problem, always a pleasure to have you around.
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My heart goes out to Crystal Dunahee……..who’s son Michael did not come home.
She has spent the rest of her life working with “Child Find BC” and I am sure her heart has been with the Herbert family this past week.
She is one that truly deserves the Order of BC on October 4.
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Hear, hear! Complete agreement.
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Too true, Sparky! And it all seems like just yesterday.
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sorry …read “Hebert”
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The stranger abductions rightfully incites rage. What about unregistered social workers (legally exempted from registration with the BC College of Social Workers) of the BC Ministry of Children and Family Development (or Destruction?) who legally abduct thousands of children from their loving parents every year, the most recent example being Derek Hoare and his autistic daughter Ayn. This is an over 1.3 billion dollar a year industry including the very abductors, their contractors, foster parents, lawyers of different colours, mental health professionals nicknamed “shrinks” and an enormous adoption industry. The problem is unfortunately growing out of control world-wide. All this flies in the face of a six-billion-dollar cumulative BC government budgetary deficit for this and next fiscal year.
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Derek Hoare’s daughter Ayn’s situation is a story I will be doing later on in the week. It’s stunning. And sad…very.
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http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/555/395/911/?z00m=20063763
Here’s the link to the petition asking for removing Gordon Campbell’s candidacy for Order of BC.
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There is something weird about this story, and the uneasy feeling about that won’t go way until some very specific questions are answered. If I had the opportunity to ask the cops or the family, I would ask them this:
– were the clothes the boy was wearing upon his return different than what he left with?
– had he been bathed in those 4 days?
– had his teeth been brushed in those 4 days?
These are simple little questions with yes/no answers, but the implications are far reaching. Hopely doesn’t strike anyone as a particularly nurturing character. The kid should have been dirty, smelly, hungry and ridiculously upset. He’s back to normal pretty quickly, like nothing happened.
The cops, in all of this, clearly are not telling us the whole story. Now the the drama has all played out, it leaves a few different possible scenarios… and in all of them, the cops look dishonest and/or incompetent… or complicit.
Let’s assume Hopely is as guilty as we all think he is. That’s not a slam dunk, but it’s the logical conclusion at the moment. But, when you think about it, there’s really no evidence we know of to prove it — we are going on the word of the RCMP who, as per below, are lying about something.
OK, the kid gets returned to the empty house in the middle of the night. Nobody is there, the door is unlocked, the neighbourhood is being patrolled by cops, including a cop posted at the only entrance into the residential neighbourhood. Nevertheless, this mentally-deficient criminal manages to slide in silently, quietly deposit the boy in the conveniently unlocked house… and then vanish into the night like a wisp of smoke.
There are only a couple of scenarios. The cops knew all about it, or the cops knew nothing about it. They are either incredibly useless, or the hatched a deal with Hopely, a sort of “we’ll leave you a safe path in and out as long as you return him unharmed and we’ll let you get away”. This is a weird scenario, but given what’s gone down, the only one that actually makes any sense… because, as I’ll get into it below, every other possibility has very sinister undertones.
We all recall the moronic family down south and their stupid “the boy is in the ballon” nonsense that frightened and mobilized countless people… and turns out the kid was in the attic all along. This was a big planned hoax, and the family should (maybe did) pay all associated costs.
In this case, let’s just say for a minute the kid was never in harm’s way. Let’s say the family got into a big fight, and one of the spouses took the kid away. To a safe place, of course. The other one, to escalate the situation, calls the cops. At some point they all calm down and figure out “shit, we’ve screwed ourselves”. The right way out of that predicament is exactly what happened. Put out the call, wait a few days, then magically return the kid… and then pin it onto someone else, half-knowing that you might put an innocent guy through the ringer but at the end of the day, he’ll probably not be found guilty because, hey, he didn’t do it.
There’s also a big inconsistency… we were at one point told the kid didn’t have the language or ability to identify the culprit. Somewhere else, we were told that in the past, twice, the kid identified Hopely as the guy trying to break into the house. Who knows. I’ve met 3 year-old that can barely string together 2 words. I’ve met 3-year-olds that speak in full sentences.
I really do wish the media would ask some real questions, not just paint this as a rosy “happy ending” feel-good story. I don’t care what the police dog’s name is. I want to know if maybe someone else was caring for that kid somewhere (where/who?) for a few days. I want to know why the father looked so fake in that interview, with the fake cry and “he’s lying or hiding something” tells that any amateur poker player would’ve picked up on. Yes, perhaps he’s not an emotional guy and with all the cameras pointed on him, realized he’d better look emotional so he faked it… and that was his pathetic effort of method acting. Or maybe he was being completely genuine and that’s how he rolls… I don’t want to point accusatory fingers at an innocent family that just dodged a big bullet because if what they say happened is what happened, I feel nothing but sheer joy for them.
But if they’re screwing around with us and public sentiment and RCMP resources to hide an escalation of bad emotional decisions…
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I have said before here, and have been hard (unfortunately) on some other posters or essays. I’m the essayist. However, this must rank as one of the better comments this blog has ever seen.
Thoughtful and provocative. Well done.
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Juan put into words what I was also wondering.
You just can’t make this stuff up!
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Looks like sordid details about this guy are starting to come out.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2011/09/13/18682581.html
The screw-up which did not extend the amber alert to Alberta right away might have resulted in this guy not being caught earlier since this “sex lair” he had was in Alberta.
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I saw this an almost wanted to put my fist through the office wall.
How the hell did this guy ever get released after they found this!!!!!!!!
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