WARNING: This story contains details of sexual assault.
Parole board documents obtained by CBC News paint a disturbing picture of the criminal past of a 29-year-old man released in Kelowna, B.C., last summer with no public warning by police about his high risk to reoffend.
Taylor Dueck has been charged with sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching and breach of probation in connection to allegations he sexually victimized a youth at a Kelowna equestrian school.
Dueck was arrested on Feb. 9, according to the RCMP and remains in custody ahead of a bail hearing next week.
B.C.’s Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth has ordered an investigation into why there was no public notification of Dueck’s release in Kelowna, despite his lengthy criminal history of violent sexual assault.
The Parole Board of Canada ruled in October 2022 that Dueck had a “high risk to reoffend” against both strangers and acquaintances, particularly those he considered vulnerable to his advances.
At the time, Dueck was applying for day parole and full parole, while serving a sentence for sexually interfering with a 10-year-old child, according to the parole decision.
In that crime, Dueck offered money to the girl to agree to come with him to a tent and keep a secret.
Dueck sexually victimized the child before she ran away and later admitted to police officers he would have done more if she had not left, according to the document.
The parole board noted Dueck committed the crime less than two months after he was released from prison in 2020, after completing a four-and-a-half year prison sentence for sexual assault and sexual assault with a weapon.
At the time, both Mission Police and Abbotsford Police issued public warnings about his risk to reoffend.
Dueck’s bid for parole was denied with the parole board concluding he would “present an undue risk to society if released.”
Dueck completed his sentence on June 23, 2023 and was released in Kelowna.
However, there was no public warning issued by the RCMP.
In a written statement, the Kelowna RCMP said they sought a public disclosure order prior to Dueck’s release, but “the threshold was not met in this case based on the totality of the circumstances,” and referred further questions to B.C. Corrections.
On Thursday, Farnworth said he was “very angry over what has happened” and is looking for a full account of what took place.
“I want to get to the bottom of this because, quite frankly, this should not have happened and I want to make sure that it never happens again,” Farnworth said.
To Kash Heed, a former West Vancouver police chief and former solicitor general and minister of public safety, the RCMP failed to protect the public in failing to warn the public about Dueck’s release in Kelowna.
“How could this not meet the threshold? If it doesn’t, boy someone has to give their head a shake,” Heed said.
“Certainly the community has a right to be aware of predators who may be amongst their community. The duty of the police of jurisdiction is to ensure public safety.”
A spokesperson for the Kelowna RCMP said the decision to issue a public warning “is typically issued, when the threshold is met, by the agency who has the best and most recent knowledge of the subject.”
Heed called the matter a systematic failure and said whoever who made the decision not to inform the public should be held accountable.
CBC News contacted B.C. Corrections for comment, but the agency has not provided a response to questions about Dueck’s case.
