Randall Hopley's dangerous offender hearing gets underway

A dangerous offender hearing began today for Randall Hopley, the B.C. man who pleaded guilty to kidnapping a young boy from his home in Sparwood before returning him safely home after a massive manhunt two years ago.

Hopley, 48, was arrested near the B.C.-Alberta border in September 2011.

Hopley pleaded guilty to abducting Kienan Hebert and holding him in a cabin at an abandoned mine site for four days before returning him unharmed to the home where he was abducted.

The former handyman has spent the last two years in protective custody in Kamloops and a psychiatric assessment to determine whether he should be declared a dangerous offender has been completed.

A loner with a long criminal record, Hopley had violently assaulted children in other incidents.

In  B.C. Supreme Court in Cranbrook on Monday morning, officers involved in those investigations testified and excerpts from psychiatric assessments were read out.

The hearing was then adjourned for the day, so that Hopley could attend his mother's funeral in Fernie.

Crown lawyers are expected to argue Hopley should be declared a dangerous offender and given the most severe sentence in the Criminal Code — an indefinite prison term.

A week has been set aside for the hearing.