Canadian Justice > Willfully putting B.C. women at unnecessary risk of rape and murder - 3 dangerous sex offenders released in April

 

Three dangerous sex offenders released into the Vancouver area so far this month by a Parole Board which seems to be indifferent to the risk to women and children. Canada's obscenely pathetic justice system desperately needs overhauling. Is there a reason why such risks should be taken with the lives of innocents for the sake of rapists and murderers?

‘A significant risk to women’: Convicted killer,

sex offender to reside in Vancouver

By Simon Little  Global News

Posted April 18, 2024 1:44 pm

 1 min read

Scott Mackay, who was convicted of murdering a University of Victoria student in 1987, has been granted

six months of day parole. Troy Charles has the latest – Mar 9, 2024

Vancouver police have issued a public warning about a convicted killer and 

high-risk sex offender who will be living in the city.

Scott Mackay, 61, “poses a significant risk to women in the community, including sex workers,” police said in a Thursday media release.

Mackay is currently on day parole while serving a life sentence for convictions of sexual assault, forcible confinement and second-degree murder.

Mackay was convicted of murdering University of Victoria student Marguerite Telesford in 1987. Her body was never found. He’s also a person of interest in another unsolved homicide, and has been convicted of two attacks on sex workers.

He was granted six months of day parole last month, following six unsuccessful applications, despite the Parole Board of Canada finding he had a high risk for “violent reoffending.”

Leonard Ramstead - child sex offender

0:37

Surrey RCMP warn public about sex offender

His parole comes with multiple conditions, including a ban on possessing or consuming alcohol or drugs.

He’s also banned from possessing or accessing pornography and sexually explicit material and being in the presence of sex workers.

Mackay is bound by a 10 p.m. curfew and must report all contact with females to his parole supervisor.

He’s also not allowed to own or operate a vehicle, except in emergency situations approved by his parole supervisor.

Mackay is described as five-feet 10-inches tall with short grey hair and hazel e yes.

Anyone who sees him breaking his conditions is asked to call 911 immediately.

Michael Popek 

2:26Police warning ‘dangerous’ sex offender living in Surrey, B.C.

Approaching Sodom > Gov'ts fund Drag Queen Summer Camp for kids 7-11 years old, in Vancouver

..

Drag Queen Summer Camp for Kids 7–11 Hosted by

Government-Funded Vancouver Theatre

The Carousel Theatre hosting a drag camp for children in July 2023 receives funding

from all levels of government.

By Tara MacIsaac, Epoch Times

March 31, 2023. Updated: March 31, 2023

Vancouver’s Carousel Theatre is hosting a “junior drag” summer camp for children ages 7–11, where children are given “drag makeup starter kits” and learn to find their “alter ego.”

The theatre will also host a “teen drag camp” this summer for ages 12–17.

“You might be wondering, is drag for kids?” says the theatre’s website. “Drag is for everyone!” it says.

It suggests that getting dressed up is drag and everyone does it. “Parents, ask yourself, what’s the difference between what you wear at home versus what you wear at work? You’re doing drag honey, you just don’t know it!”

When parents dress for work, they are not pretending to be the opposite sex, and they are not trying to draw children to their perverse lifestyle. Neither are they teaching children to do the opposite of what God expects of them:

A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 22:5

The theatre is supported by municipal, provincial, and federal funds. It received $41,000 in federal funding last year, and a combined $407,632 since 2014, according to government grants data. Much of the federal funding is from the Heritage Ministry.

As if drag queens are a part of our heritage!

The Epoch Times asked the ministry how it responds to critics who say drag camp is not suitable for children and shouldn’t be government funded, but did not receive a reply as of publication.

“This is utterly disgusting. Camps indoctrinating kids as young as 7 with gender ideology and sexual confusion are now being promoted and subsidized by all government levels,” said Maxime Bernier, Peoples’ Party of Canada leader, in a tweet on March 31.

It isn’t the first children’s drag camp in Vancouver. The Havana Theatre hosted one in 2019. It was the first all-ages drag camp in the city, according to the theatre.

A similar camp, for children aged 12–18, will be hosted this summer by the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle. “You’ll investigate drag history and work together with local artists to create your own personas. You’ll choose your name, explore hair and makeup techniques, and develop your character’s stage presence,” its website says.

Protests have surrounded drag events for children across Canada, particularly the many drag story hours hosted by public libraries. After a spate of protests in Calgary, the city passed a bylaw this month against protests within 100 metres of libraries and recreation centres. Protests around recreation centres had focused on transgender use of the changerooms.

Sex Offender ‘Swirl Face’ Settling Down in Vancouver

Christopher Paul Neil, 42, a former schoolteacher originally from Maple Ridge, B.C., was the focus of an international manhunt after German police found more than 200 online images in 2004 of a man sexually abusing young boys.

These images made available by Interpol in Paris, Oct. 8, 2007 show a then unidentified man after, left, and before the digital manipulation of the image. He was later identified as Canadian schoolteacher Christopher Paul Neil.  (ANONYMOUS / ASSOCIATED PRESS)  

By PETER EDWARDS Star Reporter

High risk sex offender Christopher Paul Neil, also known as “Swirl Face,” is settling down in Vancouver after serving prison time in Canada and Thailand for abusing underage boys, according to British Columbia corrections officials.

Neil, 42, a former schoolteacher originally from Maple Ridge, B.C., was the focus of a massive international manhunt after German police found more than 200 online images in 2004 of a Caucasian man sexually abusing young boys.

He was dubbed “Swirl Face” because his image in the photos was digitally obscured to conceal his identity.

Neil was arrested in Thailand in 2007 after Interpol unscrambled the photos.

After serving a five-year sentence in Thailand, Neil was deported to Canada in October 2012.

He lived in B.C. under strict bail conditions until March 2014, when he was arrested on new charges.

In December 2015, he was sentenced to 5 ½ years more in custody after pleading guilty to sexual touching and invitation to sexual touching of two Cambodian boys aged nine and 13 and possession of child pornography.

That Canadian sentence was cut to roughly 15 months because of pre-sentencing custody.

“[W]e want the public to be aware of this individual’s presence in the community and to contact authorities if they observe Mr. Neil engaging in any activity that could be considered a violation of his court order,” Rose said. “To be clear, any breach of conditions can result in an offender’s return to custody.”

B.C. Corrections will work closely with Vancouver police and other government agencies “to monitor and enforce Mr. Neil’s 18 court-ordered conditions,” Rose said.

“These conditions include no in-person or online contact with anyone under 16, not possessing any computer or any device capable of accessing the Internet, and not being near parks, schools, daycares, libraries, arcades, recreation or community centres,” Rose said.

It would have been really nice to have heard that Neil had undergone extensive psychological therapy, or spiritual deliverance, or something!!! But no; Canadian justice sent him to jail for 36 months, then loosed this predator back into society. Thailand's justice system seems to better protect its society than Canada's. Good grief!

Man Grabs and Gropes Teen Girl After She Exits a Bus in Abbotsford

Abbotsford is the city in British Columbia in which I live along with several of my children and grandchildren and great grandchildren. It is located in the middle of the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver. It's southern extent reaches the US-Canada border. It's a great city - the very heart of Canada's Bible belt and we have a first class police force that I cannot stop bragging about.



The Abbotsford Police Department (APD) is warning the public about, a sexual assault that occurred Saturday, May 7 involving a 17-year-old girl.

The teen had exited a bus in the area of Townline Road and Firhill Drive at about 11:15 p.m. and began walking westbound, when a man got out of a shiny, black four-door sedan, grabbed her and offered her cash.

Const. Ian MacDonald said the man attempted to push the girl into the back seat of his car, while grabbing and groping her.

He said the man seemed to mistakenly believe that the young woman was a sex trader worker, and kept offering her more money.

The victim managed to call 911, and the suspect fled the area.


Endlessly spectacular view of Mount Baker in Washington State

He is described as a South Asian, 20 to 35 years old, 5’ 7” to  5’ 9”, with a medium build, short black hair and a couple days of beard growth.

The man spoke with a Punjabi accent and was wearing black pants and a black T-shirt with a grey pattern or logo on both the front and back.

MacDonald said, when police canvassed residents in the area, some people reported having seen a man matching the description of the suspect. Investigators believe he may live or work nearby.

There are thousands of south Asians living on the west side of Abbotsford where the incident took place.

“We ask everyone to elevate their personal safety practices in light of this sexual assault,” MacDonald said.

The APD major crime unit is continuing to investigate.

Anyone with information is asked to call the APD at 604-859-5225, text 222973 (abbypd) or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

Sex Abuse in Greater Vancouver

Teacher enters guilty plea to sexual exploitation charge

North Vancouver School District says in release 

it will "address Mr. Smith’s employment status"

CBC News 



The North Vancouver School District confirms one of its teachers, suspended since his arrest in August, 2015, has pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual exploitation. (North Vancouver School District)

The North Vancouver School District says one of its teachers has pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual exploitation.

In August, 2015, Chad Jeremy Smith, 40, was arrested by North Vancouver RCMP after an investigation revealed that he had allegedly assaulted a female student for more than two years, from October 2012 to December 2014.

The charge applies to authority figures accused of sexually assaulting a minor, police said at the time.

"With his recent conviction of sexual exploitation, the school district will now take the steps necessary to address Mr. Smith's employment status on a permanent basis," wrote North Vancouver School District spokeswoman Deneka Michaud in a statement sent to CBC News.

"As soon as allegations came forward last summer prior to the start of this school year, the situation was taken very seriously and handled promptly," said the statement. "The North Vancouver School District worked with police and followed the School Act in terms of disciplinary action."

The district says Smith was suspended from teaching during the investigation.

Surrey RCMP investigating after Realtor sexually assaulted during open house

Woman fought off her attacker, who fled & escaped police

CBC News 

Surrey RCMP are investigating after a Realtor says she was sexually assaulted during an open house

Mounties are investigating after a Realtor was sexually assaulted in North Surrey just after 4 p.m. PT Saturday afternoon. 

Police say the female Realtor was conducting an open house when she was attacked. The woman was able to fight off the man who then fled the home. 

Mounties conducted a search of the area but couldn't locate the suspect.

The woman didn't know the alleged attacker and wasn't injured in the incident.

Police seek Sikh

Police describe the suspect as a South Asian male in his late 20s to mid 40s who spoke with an accent. He's described as being between 5'5" and 5'8" tall with brown eyes and a dark well-groomed beard. He was wearing dark coloured pants and a light coloured shirt with a white turban. 

The investigation is ongoing and police are appealing for anyone with information to come forward.

Surrey is British Columbia's second largest city. It is located southeast of Vancouver.

University of British Columbia

Two men charged in alleged UBC sex assault

2 suspects arrested after report of break & enter at campus area apartment

CBC News 

University RCMP say they arrested two men involved in a suspected break and enter and sexual assault on UBC (University of British Columbia) campus in the early hours of Saturday, April 30, 2016. (Megan Batchelor/CBC)

A pair of men are facing charges of breaking and entering, sexual assault and forcible confinement in connection with an incident at an apartment building on UBC's Point Grey campus. 

Just after 2:15 a.m. PT on Saturday, RCMP officers arrested two men involved in a suspected break and enter at an apartment building in the 5700 block of Birney Avenue.

David Singh Tucker, 28, and Yuan Zhi Gao, 23, are now both charged with one count of breaking and entering. Tucker is also charged with three counts each of sexual assault causing bodily harm, forcible confinement, and robbery as well as one count of wearing a mask with intent to commit an indictable offence. 

In response, UBC issued a campus safety alert on Sunday, reminding those on campus to be vigilant about their surroundings and to take measures to prevent unknown persons from entering residences.

"We realize the recent incidents of voyeurism and sexual assault have been unsettling to the community and we share your concerns. UBC will continue to work with the police, Campus Security and other campus community partners to continuously look for ways to improve the safety of students, faculty and staff on campus," wrote Louise Cowin, UBC's vice president of students in a release.

It's not yet clear if Saturday's incident is related to several reports in recent months of a prowler near female residences.

Culture of Rape Getting Some Support from University of British Columbia

The head of the University of British Columbia has apologized to the women in a CBC special The Fifth Estate investigation into sexual assault.

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

"I want to apologize to the women in these cases who feel they have been let down by our university," Martha Piper, 
interim president and vice-chancellor, said in a statement issued online.

"We admire the courage of the women who came forward to bring attention to this crucial issue."

Despite the apology, one of the former students in the CBC's story, Glynnis Kirchmeier, says she plans to file a complaint with the BC Human Rights Tribunal by the end of the year. She's asking anyone who reported sexual misconduct to the school during the past 20 years to contact her at ubcsexualassault@gmail.com.

"UBC has a legal duty to provide a harassment-free environment," she said. "UBC's chance to do the right thing is over ... The university is going to be tried in the court of public opinion, and then it is going to answer to the BC Human Rights Tribunal, and I suspect it will be tried in civil court as well."

I'll bet they wished now that they had actually acted before the Fifth Estate story forced them to.

Kirchmeier says when she approached UBC's Equity Inclusion Office about a sexual misconduct she witnessed, she was told in effect to keep quiet.

Hmmm, and that's the 'Equity-Inclusion' office! Good grief!

Sara-Jane Finlay UBC VP Equity and Inclusion, Glynnis Kirchmeier

UBC vice-president of equity and inclusion, Dr. Sara-Jane Finlay, listens to former student Glynnis Kirchmeier, right, at a press conference on Nov. 22 where Kirchmeier announced she will file a complaint with the BC Human Rights Tribunal over the school's treatment of people reporting sexual misconduct. (CBC)

In School of Secrets, which will be livestreamed online Monday evening, the fifth estate reveals that UBC took more than a year and a half to act against a grad student despite mounting complaints of harassment or sexual assault by at least six women on campus.

Piper acknowledged that "the process took too long" and that it was "frustrating and time-consuming."

"I appreciate the light the women have shone on this issue," Piper said, pledging to create a sexual assault policy that will handle complaints "in a more timely and effective manner."

That is...before the Fifth Estate airs their dirty laundry.

"We will be reviewing the steps that were taken in these cases to determine how they might have been handled more effectively and expeditiously," she said.

Delayed investigation

The women allege a 28-year-old PhD student in the history department committed a wide range of offensive acts against them from inappropriate touching to sexual assault, starting at least as far back as the spring of 2013.

The first formal allegations against him were brought to the university in spring 2014.

In one case, a woman went to university officials to get UBC to take action, but says the university dismissed her complaint because the alleged assault took place off campus.  

UBC officials at another point urged mediation between the female students and the PhD student, which the women refused. One of them said it was not appropriate to have to sit in a room with someone alleged to have sexually assaulted them. 

The university quietly expelled the grad student last week. He told the fifth estate he is appealing the decision.

And why not? Surely he has a right to sexually assault UBC girls? That's the impression you get by the lack of action by UBC administration.

The link below will take you to the CBC page where you can watch the 40 minute Fifth Estate program.

Bikram Choudhury, Millionaire Yoga Guru, Sued for Alleged Sexual Assault

Bikram Choudhury, front, founder of the Yoga College of India,
leads a yoga class at the Los Angeles Convention Center, in September 2003.

A Vancouver woman has filed a lawsuit against yoga millionaire Bikram Choudhury, alleging the 69-year-old yoga guru sexually assaulted her during an instructor training course in Las Vegas in 2010.

Jill Lawler alleges she was "repeatedly sexually assaulted, raped and harassed" by Choudhury, and that he "preyed on … her youth and vulnerability … which caused her significant and enduring physical, emotional and psychological harm."

The leaders of at least 2 ashrams (live-in yoga centres) in Australia have been investigated for rape and child sex abuse, and at least one in India. Also, in the 1960's, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was accused of attempted sexual assault of Mia Farrow at his ashram when the Beatles were also there.

The civil lawsuit filed in the California Superior Court in Los Angeles earlier this month says Lawler was 18 years old when she began training with, and then working for, Choudhury's yoga business.

Lawler says she paid $10,000 in 2010 to attend a nine-week intensive yoga instructor training course after personally writing to Choudhury to be allowed to take part, despite not meeting the course's normal minimum age requirement of 21.

The lawsuit alleges the exhaustive training program and low protein diet pushed "students to the point were they become compliant and unquestioning with regard to their guru's requests."

Evening assaults alleged

During an evening meeting, Lawler's lawsuit alleges, she began massaging Choudhury's feet and he put his hand on her thigh, then attempted to put his hand inside her pants. She jumped up and left the room in shock, according to the lawsuit.

Bikram Choudhury appears at a
book signing in New York in 2007
Choudhury is the creator of Bikram
yoga, also known as hot yoga

The lawsuit alleges the unwanted sexual advances continued during the course, stating "one night about a week later Choudhury insisted that Jill accompany him to his hotel room … where in addition to raping her … Choudury demanded she say disgusting and untrue things, including: 'Bikram you're the best' and 'I want to f--k you all night long.'"

The lawsuit alleges Choudhury assaulted Lawler again during his training session, and on other occasions over the coming years while she was working at his studios, including at his home in Los Angeles, at another training course, and while training in India.

In the lawsuit, she says she felt there was nothing she could do about the alleged assaults, because she thought Choudhury would retaliate by preventing her from working at his Vancouver studios and make it impossible for her to earn a living.

"Jill was terrified of … Choudhury because he had a number of close followers in Vancouver, would brag that he knew 'all of the police' and many other powerful people, he warned students, including Jill, not to 'f--k with him,' and frequently stated that 'people who don't listen to me, they die,'"  says the lawsuit.

Lawler alleges that once she learned another woman had filed a lawsuit against Choudhury, he became concerned and began to offer "veiled bribes to buy her silence," which she refused.

The lawsuit says that in July 2014, Lawler taught her last Bikram class, but she still suffers from crippling psychological harm. She is suing for unspecified compensation.

No police investigation

The allegations have not been proven in court, and Choudhury has not filed a response to the lawsuit.

The Bikram Yoga Vancouver Team said this is a "terrible tragedy for the individuals involved."

"If these allegations are upheld, we certainly condemn this type of behaviour," it said in an emailed statement. "All of that said, once there is a verdict in this case, we'll see where that takes us."

CBC News has not yet received a response to a request for comment from Choudhury. But according to an article published yesterday in the New York Times, Choudhury's lawyers said they had not yet been formally served with the lawsuit.

Lawler's lawyer Mary Shea Hagebols is also representing five other women who filed lawsuits in 2013 and 2014 against Choudhury for alleged sexual harassment and sexual assault.

According to a statement posted on the Bikram Yoga website dated April 2014, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has looked into the prior allegations and decided against pursuing criminal investigations of Choudhury at that time.

The New York Times article also said Choudhury's lawyers issued a statement saying Choudhury "did not sexually assault any of the plaintiffs” and that the women were “unjustly” exploiting the legal system for financial gain.

Choudhury is known for developing and copyrighting a sequence of 26 yoga postures which are normally performed in a room heated to 40 C. His chain of 650 yoga studios around the world have made the Beverley Hills resident a multimillionaire.

UBC Sex Assault Reports Out of Sync with RCMP Statistics

University of British Columbia, Vancouver

The number of sexual assault reports received by the University of British Columbia between 2009 and 2013 is less than a quarter of the number received by the RCMP detachment on the UBC campus during the same time period, a CBC News investigation has learned.

The revelation raises questions about why UBC’s published data is out of sync with the RCMP’s figures.

As part of an investigation of sexual assault reporting on Canadian campuses, CBC News contacted 87 university and major colleges across Canada over the past six months, and requested the number of sexual assaults reported on each campus between 2009 and 2013.

Seventy-seven schools provided a complete set of data.

In its response to the CBC News survey, UBC said 16 students reported a sexual assault to the university between 2009 and 2013.

However, data obtained by CBC News from the RCMP detachment on the UBC campus, through access to information, shows more than 70 reports of sexual assault on the campus during the same time period.

A UBC graduate student who was sexually assaulted on campus and now volunteers with the school’s sexual assault centre says she is shocked by the discrepancy.

“If someone had said [there were 16 assaults reported] in one year, I might have said OK. But five years?” says Lucia Lorenzi, who was sexually assaulted four years ago by a fellow student in a UBC student lounge in the middle of the day.

“It makes we wonder who students have been trusting in telling and who is collecting the numbers.”

The school’s most recent annual statistics report says eight sexual assaults were reported to its campus in the year 2013.

“Reported offences involving crimes against people continue to be very low for a community of this size and the population of the Vancouver campus,” boasts the report.

However, according to the RCMP statistics, 19 sexual assaults were reported to the RCMP on the campus that same year.

“I think it raises the question as to the validity of that. I think it gives us something to think about. We haven't gone down the avenue of looking at RCMP data,” Louise Cowin, UBC’s vice president of students, told CBC News in an interview conducted on Jan. 23.

Louise Cowin, UBC’s vice president of students

“Prior to you pointing it out to me today,” she said, the university had relied solely on sexual assault “reporting out of activity on campus through campus security.”

UBC stats ‘misleading’, says expert. Pffft! No kidding!

Holly Johnson, an associate professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa, and the lead researcher for Statistics Canada’s first national survey on violence against women, said UBC could have done a better job at reporting sexual assault statistics.

“[The CBC investigation] has exposed something important,” says Johnson. “It's not entirely honest [for a university] to say, ‘Well, we record this many,’ without also saying we have police on our campus and this is what they record. I would say that's misleading.”

CBC News isn’t the first to point out that the RCMP also collects data on the campus. Last year, the university’s own Safety Working Group recommended publishing the RCMP statistics in UBCs annual report.

RCMP station on UBC campus

The report called for immediate action, but when asked if the university has requested sexual assault statistics from the RCMP, Cowin said, “I'd have to say that I'm not sure that we've actually explicitly tried.”

After the interview, UBC sent a follow-up email to CBC News saying they will act on their own recommendation in March.

“As was committed to in the November 2014 Campus Safety Working Group report, Campus Security and the UBC RCMP are working together to update sexual assault statistics with RCMP data,” the email said.

“As you know, the UBC Board of Governors has accepted the terms of that report, meaning the recommendations will be followed. The updated stats will be published in late March, which is the standard publishing time for the Campus Safety Annual Report.”

When asked if the university would go back and update its data from previous years posted online, Cowin said, “I don’t think that is something that is front of mind,” adding that she doesn't believe the RCMP number captures the true picture, either.

UBC: Focused on support

UBC is one of a handful of post-secondary schools in Canada that publishes annual statistics online documenting crimes occurring on campus. Currently, the university has five years’ worth of data on its website.

University of British Columbia students walk past a sexual assault poster
on the campus in Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday October 30, 2013

However, UBC’s vice president of students says the school needs to be focused on making sure students get the help they need. Maybe you should start by telling the truth. It's not very helpful to mis-lead your students into a false sense of security.

“I think what's most important, not about the report itself or about the number that's published, but that UBC as a campus culture, as a campus environment, really, holds a space where the intention of care and inclusion are very much present so that those who are survivors of sexual assault know that they can come forward in a safe space where their voices will be heard,” she says.

Lucia Lorenzi, on the other hand, questions why the university hasn’t made immediate changes to the statistics it posts online so that students can have a more accurate picture of what’s happening on campus.

“I don't have confidence. Especially after the assaults [in 2013],” says Lorenzi, referring to a high-profile string of stranger assaults on the campus.

“When there was all this focus on UBC and talking about safety measures, and [emergency] blue lights and the phones, shouldn't that have been enough? Or is it now that the national spotlight has gone off of them, it's not as urgent? People are still being assaulted on campus every day, probably, or at least every week. So it makes me wonder why there is a delay.”