(KIM ANDERSON / iNFOnews.ca)

A man who fled a court-ordered stay at a treatment centre and fought a Logan Lake resident will be released after already spending more than eight months in jail.

Jacob McLean, 49, was already in custody, but he appeared in Kamloops provincial court March 9. He pleaded guilty to two counts of assault after he fought with the Logan Lake resident and groped a Merritt healthcare worker in June 2022.

On the morning of the assaults, McLean fled the VisionQuest treatment centre and tried to find a ride away from the Logan Lake area.

Rory Heppner was just getting home from work around 4:30 a.m., June 14, when he heard his wife's car alarm.

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"As I shut the door the horn started going off again. I went outside again and a man got out of her car and demanded I give him a ride," Heppner told iNFOnews.ca just days after the incident. "I told him to get off my property as my kids and wife were inside and he started coming towards me."

He called his father for help while his wife called 9-1-1, but he felt he had to find a way to apprehend McLean before police arrived. There weren't any officers available in Logan Lake at the time, so Merritt RCMP responded.

Heppner and McLean fought outside and Heppner used a shovel to fend him off.

Merritt RCMP arrived to arrest McLean, who matched the description of a person reported missing from VisionQuest, Crown prosecutor Leah Winters told the court. McLean complained of pain on his side because he was hit with the shovel, so police took him to Nicola Valley Hospital.

Police were in the room while McLean had the x-ray done, where he told the x-ray technologist she has a "great ass" and told her to get closer so he could "smell her hair," Winters said.

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RCMP warned him not to make inappropriate comments and to "treat people with more respect," before he "grabbed her crotch" toward the end of the exam, Winters said.

McLean was originally charged with assault against Heppner and sexual assault for grabbing the healthcare worker, but the court gave him the lesser charge of assault upon his guilty plea, then released him with a 210-day  sentence of time served.

His lawyer, John Gustafson, said McLean has severe mental health issues, "some of which are not fully understood."

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McLean was already facing other assault charges, which is what prompted his court-ordered stay at VisionQuest in the first place. Gustafson said McLean had difficulties getting the treatment he needed, despite conditions to stay at VisionQuest.

"Because of the status of his criminal charges, he wasn't qualifying for a lot to help for his mental health, but the criminal system wasn't really adequate to address his mental health needs," Gustafson said.

However, Gustafson also said McLean has "stabilized" since his time in custody, steadily improving as he was medicated in custody.

McLean's release orders will include a requirement not to go near either Heppner or the Merritt healthcare worker, but it's unlikely that will happen as he will now move to a supportive housing facility in Surrey.

He's far from the first person to flee their court-ordered stay at the Logan Lake area treatment centre. 

VisionQuest treats offenders with mental health issues and addictions regularly, and they are often sent there as part of their bail conditions. It's not a correctional facility and it doesn't use any security to ensure people stay.

In December, a man was sentenced for breaching his conditions after he left the facility on foot last summer, only to be picked up by RCMP along a nearby highway.

VisionQuest executive director Megan Worley has defended the centre from claims it is discharging clients into the Kamloops shelter system, telling iNFOnews.ca her employees don't have the authority to force clients to abide by court conditions.

"Our goal is to be respectful of the communities near us, and we go out of our way to do so, but our main priority is saving lives," she said in a previous interview.

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