A close relative of a victim of Gary Jagur Singh, also known as the Marpole Rapist, says the dangerous offender will be released on day parole to a halfway house in Surrey as of Thursday, Jan. 9.
“He’s viewed as incurable,” the relative warned.
A Parole Board of Canada document reveals Singh, 64 has been granted day parole but denied full parole. He is serving an indeterminate sentence for four counts of sexual assault with a weapon, eight counts of break and enter with intent, three counts of robbery and seven counts of sexual assault. On June 10, 1994 he was designated a dangerous offender.
“The Board notes that experts in your case have advised that your sexual deviancy can never be cured, but it can be managed,” the document states.
Singh had, between January 1988 and August 1991 “sexually offended against” 11 victims who were strangers to him. Three were forcefully taken off the street and assaulted in darker, secluded areas while the other eight were attacked in their apartments, where they had been sleeping when he broke in.
“You woke your victims up and threatened them, and on some occasions, their children as well,” the document states. “At times, you held a knife to the victims’ throats or threatened violence against them or their children.”
The relative, who cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity, told the Now-Leader that Victims Services informed her Singh will be released into Surrey.
But confirming that is another matter.
Asked how her relative is coping, she replied, “bluntly, not good.”
“I think people need to know. I’m not a witchhunt kind of person,” she said,” but this is somebody who has done horrible things.”
Hope Latham, public affairs officer for the ministry of public safety and solicitor general, told the Now-Leader on Monday that “BC Corrections cannot confirm whether a specific individual is or is not it its custody. We would suggest directing this request to Correctional Service Canada.”
Jean Paul Lorieau, regional manager for Correctional Service Canada’s Pacific Region, said on Tuesday that public notifications are the responsibility of the local police, “so they would make a decision whether they feel there’s a duty to warn the public on a specific case.”
Corporal Elenore Sturko, of the Surrey RCMP, said once police receive notification an offender is being released, a review is conducted to determine what risk the offender might pose to the community, and if this meets the threshold of applying for additional conditions to the court “or looking to make operational plans based on that person’s re-integration into the community.”
“I can’t confirm to you whether or not we have received any recent notifications,” Sturko said Tuesday. “But if we have received recent notifications we would currently be undertaking the process to determine whether or not a public notification would be released, and after that determination is made we would make that public notification. But until that determination would be made, I can’t speak to you about any people that are currently under review or anything like that.”
Sturko said police are constantly communicating with Corrections to make sure people are not “falling through the cracks.”
Asked Tuesday if she’s in a position to confirm if Singh is going to be released into Surrey, Sturko replied, “I’m in no position at this time to discuss it with you, any client that we may be notified about.”
The Parole Board document says Singh must return to a “residential facility nightly” and is subject to 11 conditions including not to consume, purchase or possess alcohol, to report his relationships, not own or operate a motor vehicle, to not be in the company of sex trade workers, to not be in areas where sex trade workers are known to frequent, to abide by a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, to follow psychological counselling, to not enter drinking establishments or strip clubs, to avoid victims and not visit Vancouver Island or the Gulf Islands, to have no contact with his sister, and to have “no direct or indirect contact with the victims or any members of the victims’ families.”
Singh was granted day parole once, in 2006, the Parole Board document notes, but that was revoked in January 2008.
“He breached parole by approaching a sex trade worker, and asking her to perform certain acts,” the victim’s relative said.
She noted Singh had been at a halfway house in Vancouver’s downtown eastside, a “stupid place to put sex offenders.”
A psychological assessment in 2019 indicates Singh is a “moderate-low risk for sexual violence” and the Parole Board document notes Singh has participated in escorted temporary absences for “family contact, faith services and community service without incident.”
tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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