Surrey's mayor is livid that a high-risk sex offender has been allowed to relocate to Surrey.
Corrections BC issued a warning on Monday (Feb. 9) that 40-year-old James William Conway had been released and is planning to move to Surrey.
"Conway has a criminal history which includes sexual interference of (a) person under 16, sexual assault, arson damaging property, fail to comply with disposition and breach of recognizance," Corrections BC said in a release.
"He has maintained a versatile pattern of sexual offending against female children in a predatory and opportunistic manner."
Conway is described as 6'4", weighing 276 pounds. He is Caucasian with brown hair and blue eyes.
Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner is outraged he'll be coming to Surrey.
"I'm furious," Hepner said, adding she found out on TV that Conway was here. Surrey RCMP Officer in Charge, Chief Supt. Bill Fordy, found out the same way, she said.
"That's just not good enough," Hepner said Tuesday. "Frankly, when you have high-risk attached to your name, I don't know why you're out in the first place."
Hepner could not say which neighbourhood Conway is in, but she is trying to find out.
She said Surrey is not the place to relocate Conway, given the recent arrest and charge of a violent sex offender for the killing of a 17-year-old girl.
Raymond Lee Caissie was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Serena Vermeersch in September last year.
He had been released from prison in 2013 after serving a 22-year sentence.
Hepner said there's something wrong with a system that lets high-risk offenders locate among the public.
She said that Conway has 27 conditions he has to abide by.
"If you need 27, there's something systemically wrong," she said. "Frankly, I don't want him in Surrey."