Randall Hopley appeals 7-year sentence for abducting Kienan Hebert
Hopley abducted 3-year-old Kienan Hebert from his Sparwood, B.C., home in 2011
Randall Hopley, the B.C. man who snatched three-year-old Kienan Hebert from his Sparwood home, launched an appeal of his sentence this morning.
Hopley was sentenced last November for his role in the September 2011 kidnapping of Hebert from a second-floor bedroom.
After a massive four-day manhunt, Hopley returned to the family's home undetected and dropped off Hebert inside unharmed. Hopley was captured a week later by police in an abandoned quarry just across the Alberta border.
He was sentenced to seven years in prison in November 2013, but that was reduced to more than four years behind bars when he was given credit for time served.
The appeal hearing got underway on Tuesday in the Appeal Court of B.C.
Hopley's lawyers say they will argue that the sentencing judge didn't apply the correct principles when determining the sentence and Hopley should be given even more credit for time served in holding awaiting trial.
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Hopley was also sentenced to 10 years of mandatory supervision after he is released — the maximum period under the long-term offender designation.
A forensic psychiatrist told his 2014 sentencing hearing that Hopley is a "high risk" to reoffend if he's released from prison.
When the appeal was announced last year Kienan's father, Paul Hebert, said he was shocked that Hopley is appealing the sentence and that he was worried Hopley will hurt others.