Randall Hopley, subject of 10-day manhunt, gets 29-month sentence

RandallHopley, the subject of an intense 10-day manhunt and Canada-wide warrant last year, has been sentenced to 29 months in prison for breaching his supervision order.

Hopley, 58, isa high-risk sex offender who, among other crimes, kidnappeda three-year-old boy from his Sparwood, B.C., bedroom in 2011.

More recently, hepleaded guilty to two counts of breaching his long-term supervision orderwhich came into force when he was released from jail eight years agoand one count of failing to appear in court.

One charge of breaching the order pertained to accessing the internetat a library in the vicinity of children in 2022, while the other pertained to his disappearance in November 2023.

On Nov. 4, Hopleysparked a manhunt when he walked away from the Salvation Army Harbour Lights halfway housein Vancouver's Downtown Eastside and cut off hiselectronic ankle monitoring bracelet.

A significant police effortfailed to find him, but 10 days later Hopley appeared at the door of theVancouver Police Department annex on East Cordova Street early in the morning, waiting for it to open so he could turn himself in.

Police said Hopley told them he had been staying under a bridge in South Vancouver and was cold, and that he wouldn'thave turned himself inhad it been summer.

In delivering her decision on Friday, Judge Jennifer Oultonsaid Hopley was entitled to time-and-a-half credit for time already served, equal to 11 months. That means he will remain behind bars for 18 months.

During Friday's hearing,Hopley became agitated when Oulton spoke ofthree child sexual assaults he committed but was never charged for when he was age16 and 17.

"I want to stop you," shouted Hopley. "There is not three sexual assaults, there's only two. That is wrong. You got it wrong."

In 2008, Hopley was convicted of kidnapping a 10-year-old boy. Three years later, he kidnapped the three-year old in Sparwood andheld him for four days in a cabin before returning him physically unharmed to his family home.

In November 2018 he was released from prison under the10-year supervision order, which dictates that he cannot connect to the internet unsupervised and cannot be around children under the age of 16.

In 2022, Hopley breached the order by attending the Vancouver Public Library in Marpole.While at the library,Hopleyaccessed the internet on a public computer while a children's storytime was taking place nearby.