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High-Risk Sex Offenders Wanted For Failing To Return To Vancouver Halfway Houses

"The way the law is set out, once the sentence is complete, they're going to get to of jail."
Vancouver Police

Vancouver police say it's"unusual" that three high-risk sex offenders are illegally at large at the same time.

The men failed to return to various Vancouver halfway houses at different times this month, as required by their release conditions.

The most recent is Gary Vogrig, 51, who has an extensive criminal history that includes charges of uttering threats, assault, sex assault, unlawful confinement, and robbery, said police on Tuesday.

UPDATE - May 21, 2015: Gary Vogrig was captured on Wednesday night, while drinking near Second Beach in Stanley Park, said police.

About a week before that, Timothy Daniel Jones, 48, walked away from a halfway house. Convicted three times for sexual assaults against teenage and adult women, he was on on statutory release after a sentence of one year and eight months for breaching a long-term supervision order.

On May 7, Gerald Richard McLean, 46, also triggered a Canada-wide warrant for being at large. He sexually assaulted a child in 2000 and a teen in 1995.

McLean is under a long-term supervision order after finishing a two-year sentence for sex assault.

A fourth high-risk sex offender, Richard Thomas Galt, was also on the lam, but police located him in Abbotsford. He had a history of sexually assaulting women and children.

Federal offenders who have served two-thirds of a fixed sentence must be released from prison under supervision. Parole board officials can impose additional conditions.

"The way the law is set out, once the sentence is complete, they're going to get to of jail," said Vancouver police Const. Brian Montague in an interview with The Huffington Post B.C.

The force's high risk offenders unit is currently monitoring 45 criminals, Montague said, which can include physical checks that they're abiding by curfews and conditions. Extreme cases could involve 24-hour surveillance.

Though he points out that if everyone was placed under such monitoring, it would require the entire Vancouver police department.

Some online commenters have wondered why such offenders are not attached to electronic monitoring. That condition is decided by the court or Corrections Canada, explained Montague, and an electronic monitoring device can still be cut off.

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Vancouver's Most Wanted, April 2015

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