While it is encouraging that Provincial Court Judge Michael Hicks recognized that Andrew Aurie Jefferson is a “substantial risk” to re-offend, it is very discouraging that this man will be out on the streets of Langley, Surrey and other Lower Mainland cities in the next two years or so.
Jefferson, 29, carjacked a woman in Langley City in June, 2013. He was caught by police almost immediately, and has been in custody ever since.
If this is all that he had done, he wouldn’t merit any mention on this page. Unfortunately, this young man is a ticking time bomb, as his record over the past 10 years makes crystal clear.
In 2006, when he was 22, he committed his most heinous crimes. He terrorized a Calgary neighbourhood called Falconridge, violently raping two women and attempting to rape a third. Jefferson was dubbed the “Falconridge rapist.”
He served six and one-half years in jail before being released on probation in 2011 to live in Surrey, with a public warning that he was an “untreated sex offender.”
In 2012, he was charged with sexually assaulting a teen in Surrey, but was found not guilty earlier this year.
In court in August, Jefferson apologized for his crimes and vowed he was turning his life around, having steered clear of drugs of late and completed a violence prevention program.
It would be nice to believe him. It isn’t certain that the judge did. He designated Jefferson a long-term offender, which means he will be under strict supervision for 10 years after he leaves jail.
Unfortunately, as became obvious with the case of Raymond Caissie, there is no assurance that such offenders who are released to live in the community actually receive strict supervision. Caissie’s case is remarkably similar to Jefferson’s in some ways. He served his full sentence and officials stated he was a high risk to re-offend when he was released.
He went on to be arrested for the murder of Serena Vermeersch last month. While he remains innocent until proven guilty, it is more than obvious that he was not being properly supervised after his release.
Will this be “deja vu all over again?”
