A convicted sex offender living in Penticton but returned to jail because he did not have an approved residence has moved to Abbotsford.
Abbotsford police issued a public notification about Don Michel Bakker on Wednesday that the 48-year-old man will be residing in, and frequenting, the Abbotsford area.
Bakker turned himself in on two occasions to Penticton RCMP in late July for breach of his conditions because he could not locate a suitable residence by his curfew.
The convicted sex offender moved to Penticton after serving a 10-year federal sentence for sexual assault, two counts of sexual assault causing bodily harm on Vancouver sex-trade workers and seven counts of invitation to sexual touching on Cambodian girls between the ages of seven and 12.
Documents from the National Parole Board show Bakker was denied early release in 2009, 2010 and 2011. He was listed as a high risk to re-offend and parole documents stated he rejected all sex offender treatment programs made available to him during his sentence. Bakker attributed his good behaviour to having become a Christian and told the parole board he realized he had been “living a very selfish life.”
Penticton RCMP issued a public warning in June after Bakker was released from prison and moved to the city. Among those conditions that he still must abide by are a curfew from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., no contact with anyone under the age of 18, not to attend public parks or public swimming areas where persons under 18 could reasonably be expected to be present, no contact with sex-trade workers, not to possess any electronic devices that connect to the internet, not to possess any weapons or any tool or device that can be used for restraint.
An application for tighter restrictions on Bakker is scheduled for a hearing from Feb. 25 to 28, 2013. A hearing date of Oct. 10 has been set for his two probation breaches at Vancouver provincial court.
