MISSION (NEWS 1130) – Some parents in Mission want to put a stop to plans for a high-risk sex offender to relocate from Abbotsford to their town. They’ve held a protest at city hall to pressure the government to put James Conway back in jail.
Conway has been convicted of sex crimes against kids and he’s deemed high risk to re-offend. Conway’s presence in Abbotsford prompted protests as well.
The City of Abbotsford even sued the halfway house where Conway had been staying, claiming the halfway home had been operating in contravention of zoning bylaws.
That lawsuit has since been withdrawn.
Protect the Children of Mission, BC formed to draw attention to Conway’s relocation and what she says has been his record of re-offending. He has been caught breaching his release conditions on two occasions.
Angel Elias with the group isn’t sure how it can be done, but she thinks children won’t be safe until Conway locked away. “If you do a little bit of research, you’re going to see that this guy is going to re-offend and is going to re-offend in our community. So it’s not that we just want him moved out of our community. We want him back in jail. We want him gone. We don’t want to just move him so that he’s somebody else’s problem.”
She says the local city council and MLA are supporting their mission to have Conway removed.
Elias believes BC needs to improve its standards for when and how sex offenders are released. She hopes pressure from the community and politicians can see change happen.
The BC Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General says there’s no law under which Conway could be jailed again, unless he breaches conditions or is convicted of another crime. Here’s the full statement from the ministry:
“The courts have determined that Mr. Conway can reside in the community under strict conditions. BC Corrections’ top priority is monitoring and enforcing his adherence to those 25 conditions, which are unchanged and include 24-hour house arrest, electronic supervision, and not leaving his residence at any time without an approved adult. Any alleged breach of conditions could result in the offender returning to custody pending police investigation and charge approval.”