Opinion: With the ordeal over, police have a lot of questions to answer police, his, kidding, because, father

tiffiant

Opinion: With the ordeal over, police have a lot of questions to answer



VANCOUVER - Whose eyes did not well up along with father Paul Hebert’s and weep at the safe return of his child? Safe and sound after five days. Rejoice.

Hebert could barely splutter his gratitude: “I would like to say thank you. It was the right thing to do. I thank God that Kienan was returned unharmed.”

No kidding. We all felt the same way.

“The sun’s shining so beautifully bright because this little guy’s found,” said acting Sparwood mayor Sheila Fraser.

“The children are laughing and playing. What more could you ask for?”

Indeed. There was joy across B.C.

Dad Paul said: “Kienan is happily home and he’s playing with his brothers and sisters. Thank you. Thank you.”

From all of us, thank you.

Hundreds of volunteers had been scouring the nearby woods and waterways of a picturesque southeastern corner of B.C., since Wednesday, looking for Kienan since parents Tammy and Paul reported him missing.

They made an emotional plea for his return Saturday: “Kienan is only three years old right now, and as you know and we know, Kienan can’t speak. So he can’t tell us who you are.”

The message was clear: Don’t hurt our little boy, please, he can’t hurt you.

On Sunday, the kidnapper answered their prayers, everyone’s prayers.

The terror is over now. There remain only questions: What happened? Why?

RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said after Kienan’s bizarre re-appearance: “His spirit is not broken. There are serious violent incidents with young children. They feel the emotion, but speaking as a father and looking at Kienan today playing with his brothers and sisters, he’s not skipping a beat.”

tiffiant

Sorry, speaking as a father, that seems like crap.

How was it possible that a three-year-old was abducted and then returned to his home in the midst of a major RCMP investigation? And why didn’t the force trigger as quickly as possible an Amber Alert in Alberta, barely down the highway?

This incident is another indictment of the Mounties: Not only can you abduct a child in this province, you can wander back days later and return him without anyone being wiser.

Say it isn’t so.

Hebert was stolen from his bed and was supposedly the subject of an intense search in Western Canada and the U.S. His house was a crime scene; his seven brothers and sisters along with his parents were staying down the street with neighbours.

Yet in a tiny town on this side of the Crowsnest Pass, with basically one highway in and out, the culprit returned to the scene of the crime and police didn’t notice?

Come on.

Moskaluk said the investigation is far from over and now will focus on finding the prime suspect, Randall Hopley, a convicted sex offender.

I want to go up there and demand answers.

It has happened before with this 46-year-old Hopley — allegations and dropped charges involving kids.

“Children are so resilient, I’ve seen it before,” Moskaluk said.

I felt sick at his words.

More than 60 investigators are still searching for Hopley, who was convicted of sexual assault in the mid-1980s and given a two-year sentence.

In November 2007, he was charged with break and enter, unlawful confinement and attempted abduction of a 10-year-old boy. He pleaded guilty to break and enter, was sentenced to 18 months in jail; the other charges were stayed in a plea deal.

As well, a preliminary hearing was set for Sept. 19 in Pincher Creek where he faces a slew of charges.

They should allow bets of him showing up on the sports lotto

tiffiant

Police inspect vehicles at a road block on highway 43 in Sparwood, British Columbia Sunday, September 11, 2011. Kienan Hebert, 3, was returned to his home early Sunday morning after going missing Wednesday. Randall Peter Hopley, 46, is being sought as a suspect in the abduction.