SURREY — BC Corrections is warning the public that high risk sex offender Jeffrey Alan Goddard is living in the City of Surrey.
“Are you kidding me?” Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner said Thursday morning, the day after his location was revealed.
“If he’s served his time he can go anywhere he likes, I don’t like it, but we have no control,” she added. “(But) if he’s out on conditional release, here’s what I have to say about that: The guy has been convicted of child luring. His interest seems to be with under age. Now think of a city that has more children than anywhere else in the province…. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Hepner noted a third of Surrey’s population is under 19.
According to BC Corrections, “Goddard has maintained a pattern of sexual offending against male youth and adults and communicating via computer to lure male and female youth.”
Goddard’s criminal history includes sexual assault, invitation to sexual touching under 16, communicate via computer to lure a child under 16, impersonating a peace officer, as well as failure to comply, breach of probation order and breach of undertaking of recognizance.
Authorities say they are monitoring him closely.
Goddard is subject to 21 court-ordered conditions including a curfew between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. to be monitored by electronic supervision; no communicating directly or indirectly with anyone under 18; not having or using any social media or websites; not attending parks, schools, day care, pools, playgrounds, skating rinks, community or rec centre; not having or using electronic devices with internet capacity (including cell phones, computers, game consoles) directly or indirectly; and not possessing a weapon.
Anyone who observes Goddard violating condition is asked to call their local police.
“Following the completion of his custodial sentence, the courts have allowed Mr. Goddard to live in the community, subject to 21 probation conditions,” BC Corrections said in a prepared statement emailed to the Now. “Once the courts have ruled that an individual may be released, that individual can choose where he or she wants to live, subject to their court-ordered conditions. To be clear, the decision to reside in Surrey was Mr. Goddard’s. No legal authority exists for the Province, or any law enforcement agency or public body, to tell offenders in which community they can or cannot live, subject to any court-ordered conditions. That said, in high-risk cases, we ensure their housing is in compliance with their court-ordered conditions and that they are supervised closely by both BC Corrections and local police.”
