The province has withheld nearly all findings of its investigation into why the public wasn't notified about a repeat sex offender released to Kelowna, only to reoffend.
The investigation was launched in response to Taylor Dueck's assault of a young girl in Kelowna while he was supposed to be under court-ordered supervision. The province faced heavy criticism last year when Dueck sexually assaulted the girl in an equestrian facility while his supervisor was outside in a car.
Then-Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth ordered the investigation in order to probe whether the public should have been warned in advance.
Completed Sept. 24, 2024, the provincial government report identified four "major policy gaps" in its public notice process for high-risk offenders. It also gave the public safety minister five recommendations.
All were withheld in the heavily redacted report obtained by a Freedom of Information request by iNFOnews.ca
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The province did not issue a news release when the report was completed, but current public safety minister Garry Begg did tell CBC there were no systemic issues with BC Corrections and policing. Instead, the report found the policy was not "properly adhered to." He also said the Crown agency which contracted Dueck's supervisor and BC Corrections will revisit their cooperation policies for clients under supervision.
iNFOnews.ca filed a Freedom of Information request for the report. Of its 79 pages, 68 were entirely withheld.
Documents revealed through the request reference two reports stemming from Dueck's assault. The first was specifically meant to examine why the public wasn't notified of his release and the second is a "broader investigation into the current public notification policies."
Staff with the ministry's policing and security branch reviewed legislation, corrections policies and policing protocols across Canada. They also interviewed police and corrections personnel.
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The report summarized some of the methods agencies may use to warn the public and Privacy Act considerations but specific policies for BC police agencies were redacted, as were the processes by which correctional agencies, both federal and provincial, share information with police.
The report does say the process is different between jurisdictions. It appears the federal process is simple in which Corrections Services Canada will notify local law enforcement of an offender's release, then it's up to police whether to notify the public.
With BC Corrections, there is an "informal, three-step process" to determine whether the public should be notified widely or in a limited fashion. The specifics were redacted.
When Kelowna RCMP was questioned last year, the detachment said it sought to notify the public but the threshold wasn't met, then deferred to BC Corrections. No further explanation was offered.
Following the completed report, Begg said BC Corrections is going to bolster its training for probation officers and implement a standardized process for public notification.
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