James Conway halfway house damaged by vandals
Police say suspects crawled into attic with hose and flooded ceiling
Abbotsford Police claim vandals caused part of the ceiling to collapse in a home where convicted sex offender James Conway has been staying.
"It's very serious mischief with damage in the tens of thousands of dollars," said Cst. Ian MacDonald with Abbotsford Police.
MacDonald says at least one suspect crawled into the attic of the home in West Abbotsford with a hose and managed to turn it so that water would flood the house.
The ceiling ended up partially collapsing while Conway and two other people were inside.
No one injured
MacDonald says no one was injured, but now assessments are being made about what needs to be repaired and how much of the home is still liveable.
Officers also say they will put cameras in place to keep watch on the street.
There have been 15 calls to police for incidents since Conway moved there August 1.
None of them have involved Conway, 40, who has been convicted three times for sexual offences against children.
He is living at the house under strict conditions that include electronic monitoring.
Vigilante behaviour
"There are criminal ramifications for those who are engaging in this behaviour," said MacDonald. "But we certainly would like to appeal to them from the standpoint of the draw that they're creating on police resources that could be better allocated elsewhere."
People who live nearby have protested outside the home multiple times since Conway began living there.
Meanwhile, Abbotsford city hall is trying to use land-use and zoning by-laws to prevent the property from being used as a halfway house.