A 69-year-old man considered an untreated and unrepentant sex offender by police has pleaded guilty to violating probation by loitering in front of Carihi Secondary School.
Hugh McKay entered a guilty plea Wednesday in Campbell River provincial court and was given a short sentence – amounting to eight more days – so that he won’t miss a neurological-psychiatric assessment.
According to Crown prosecutor Bruce Goddard, just three doctors in B.C. are qualified to conduct the assessment and McKay would have to wait several more months for another appointment if he misses this one because he’s in jail.
Authorities want a thorough assessment conducted on McKay, labelled by Campbell River RCMP as an, “untreated and apparently unrepentant sex offender,” Goddard told Judge Roderick Sutton.
Police also say he appears “very deaf” when dealing with officers, but other times he seems to have no trouble hearing or understanding others. It is also hoped the assessment will determine if the McKay has the onset of dementia.
Nevertheless, McKay is considered a danger to young people and is bound by a 10-year probation order preventing him from hanging around school yards or anywhere children 16 and under may be.
The order stems from convictions from recent sexual offences. In June 2011, he was arrested outside the downtown Community Centre after grabbing the buttocks of a 15-year-old girl.
Then, in July 2012, while living at his son’s home, a 12-year-old girl – a friend of McKay’s grandson – arrived at the home and offered her $40 to have sex. She reported the incident and McKay was arrested and denied bail.
He remained in custody for almost a year during which time, four different psychological assessments were conducted on McKay to determine his fitness to stand trial.
He was first found unfit to stand trial, then fit, then unfit again and finally, in June 2013, fit to stand trial. Two months later, McKay pleaded guilty to two sex offences.
He was released shortly later, but on Nov. 30, McKay was arrested again for breaching probation when he was found outside the Community Centre where he’s not allowed to be.
McKay was held in custody, awaiting trial, but on Feb. 13, the Crown dropped the charge because video surveillance showed McKay just using the bus stop outside the Community Centre.
However, on Feb. 19, a police officer cruising Dogwood Street spotted McKay seated on a concrete barrier at Carihi, just as school was letting out.
Again McKay was arrested for breaching probation and during the investigation police also learned he had been stopping in front of Phoenix Middle School. McKay’s explanation was that he was making the daily walk from the shelter on Evergreen Road to the downtown probation office and usually made several stops to rest his legs.
However, a friend who accompanied McKay on their Feb. 19 stroll along Dogwood told police there was no reason to stop right in front of Carihi and they could have stopped elsewhere to rest.
As a result, McKay pleaded guilty to breach and received 12 more days of jail. This will amount to eight days after he serves two-thirds of his sentence and that will allow McKay to undergo the assessment scheduled for March 14.
“It’s in everyone’s best interest,” said McKay’s lawyer Angie Penhall.
Upon his release, McKay is still bound by his original probation order.
