WATCH: A convicted sex offender who was the subject of a public warning in Surrey last year after he finished serving a 22 year sentence for sex assault, has been charged in connection with the murder of 17-year old Serena Vermeersch. Randene Neill reports.
VANCOUVER – A convicted sex offender, who was at high risk to re-offend when he was released from jail in June 2013, has now been charged in the death of 17-year-old Serena Vermeersch.
Vermeersch’s body was found last Tuesday night near train tracks on 146th Street and 66th Avenue in Surrey. She was on her way home at the time but never made it.
He has been identified as Raymond Caissie.
Caissie, 43, has a history of violent sexual crimes, including two counts of sexual assault with a weapon, theft, possession of stolen property, and two counts of forcible confinement and robbery.
IHIT says they arrested Caissie in Vancouver but would not say if he lives there.
There was some confusion earlier on Monday about a publication ban. However, there was never a publication ban on Caissie’s name, but there was one on his bail hearing, which has not yet happened.
In 1991 Caissie was accused and convicted of sexually assaulting a 21-year-old woman in Abbotsford. He was sentenced to, and served, 22 years in jail.
At the time, Justice Stuart Leggatt sentenced Caissie to two concurrent terms of 12 years each for sexual assault. He also got 10 years in jail for robbery and forcible confinement.
According to media reports at the time, as Caissie was being led away to serve his sentence, he said “I’ll see you in 22 years.”
When he was released after serving his full sentence, the Ministry of Justice, Corrections Branch, released a public warning outlining a number of conditions for his bail, including no contact, direct or indirect, with any of the victims of offences for which he has been convicted or any known members of their immediate families.
The fact that he was being released in Surrey infuriated Mayor Dianne Watts, who said at the time Caissie has “been let loose in our community to victimize one of our residents.”
Watts said Monday that the situation is outrageous.
“This is a prime example of where the criminals rights outweighed the safety of the general public, it’s outrageous, and it happens in communities across BC and across the country — and it has to change,” says Watts.
She praised the RCMP for their investigative work.
“The investigators worked around the clock, they knew exactly what they needed to do and they got the job done. It was a very quick turnaround,” added Watts.
Despite the arrest, the community is still on edge.
Surrey resident Naida Robinson, who lives near Serena’s family home is grateful to Surrey RCMP and IHIT for making an arrest in a short period of time, but she still doesn’t feel safe.
“Nobody feels safer tonight. We know nothing. Everybody is frustrated and they’re scared.”
The mother of five worries for the safety of her children, claiming she has no choice but to be a “helicopter parent.”
” My teenagers have never left my home unsupervised. That’s how unsafe I feel and I think that’s a tragedy.”
Sadly, the Vermeersch family has company in their grief.
Doug Leslie’s daughter, Loren, was murdered by serial killer Cody Legebokoff. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
“I heard he was charged with second-degree murder,” said Leslie on BC1. “Well that is absolutely ridiculous. It should be first-degree murder right off the top. And he should never have got off before. He should never ever get out again. And that’s not my opinion, that’s a fact.”
Leslie said he feels terrible about what has happened to the Vermeersch family.
Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton issued a statement on Monday afternoon saying in part:
What we can do – and what we always do – in cases where offenders supervised in the community are accused of committing a crime or a violent act, is undertake a review of our monitoring procedures to ensure that best practices were followed. This is underway already and preliminary results indicate that the stringent and significant monitoring processes in place were followed.
That said, I know that will be of little comfort to the victim’s friends and family. Despite the best efforts of law enforcement, we know we will never be able to completely eliminate all violent offences committed by those with criminal histories released back into our communities. But I can assure you that will not prevent us from continuing to strive to reduce these terrible situations.
– With files from Negar Mojtahedi
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