A man has been given a suspended sentenced and two years of probation after an incident in which he allegedly exposed himself in an Abbotsford park.
Barry Shpeley, 57, pleaded guilty on Feb. 28 in Abbotsford provincial court to an assault charge. A second charge – sexual assault – was stayed.
A suspended sentence means Shpeley will receive a criminal record – and could go to jail – if he violates the conditions of his probation.
Shpeley was charged after an incident on Dec. 13 at Hougen Park on Cole Road in east Abbotsford.
Police said they received a call from a couple who had been sitting in their van – the woman was in the driver’s seat – at the park, when a Volvo parked next to them.
Police said the Volvo driver got out of the vehicle and opened the passenger door of the van. The Volvo driver’s pants were down and he exposed himself to the couple, they said.
As the male passenger got out of the van, the driver of the Volvo rubbed up against him, and the victim then shoved him, police said.
RELATED: Dad of missing Abbotsford woman charged after allegedly exposing himself in park
They said the female driver also got out of the van, and the Volvo driver grabbed her upper body. The woman used pepper spray on the suspect, and the pair quickly drove away and reported the incident, according to police.
Shortly afterwards, another couple pulled into the parking lot and saw a man standing by a vehicle with his pants around his ankles and using a bottle of water to wash his face, police said.
An officer arrived, and that couple reported what they had seen.
As the officer was gathering information, he received a report that traffic officers on Highway 1 had pulled over a driver for suspected impaired driving near Yale Road – the second exit past Cole Road.
Police said the driver and his vehicle matched the descriptions provided by the witnesses at Hougen Park, and the driver admitted that he had been at the park and had been pepper-sprayed.
Shpeley was then arrested and subsequently charged.
He has been in the media several times in the past, seeking information that could lead to an arrest of the person(s) responsible for the disappearance of his daughter, Candace Shpeley of Abbotsford.
Candace was 23 and a single mom of three at the time she went missing in March 2007.
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