Convicted Kelowna sex offender to stay in prison on new charges

Convicted child sex offender Taylor Dueck will remain behind bars for the time being.

Dueck, who was charged in February with sexual touching of a person under the age of 16 and breaching his probation, has been in custody since his arrest. He’d  applied for bail and a hearing on the matter was held on March 6. On Thursday, provincial court judge Michelle Danyluk denied Dueck release.

The reasons for her decision, as well as all the details offered in the hearing, are under a publication ban.

Dueck will be in court next on March 21, and in the days and weeks ahead, his trial on recent charges will be scheduled.

Allegations that Dueck, a 29-year-old repeat sex offender, assaulted an 11-year-old girl at an equestrian centre where they were both taking lessons shocked the community and prompted a cry for change by the family at the heart of the case as well as multiple levels of government.

The lack of warning given before Dueck was released into Kelowna is of concern.

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Lower Mainland RCMP previously issued a warning about Dueck under the Privacy Act of Canada because he had been deemed a high risk to reoffend sexually. Police said at the time that he posed a risk to the safety of female children under the age of 18 years old.

In Kelowna, RCMP did not issue a public interest disclosure (PID), saying the threshold had not been met with “the best and most recent knowledge of the subject.”

“While we cannot speak for other agencies, the BC RCMP has been very proactive with issuing a PID when we become aware of a person’s release into one of our communities,” Cpl. Michael Gauthier said in a statement.

“I can confirm that a PID was sought prior to his release in Kelowna, however, the threshold was not met in this case based on the totality of the circumstances.”

As of yet, nobody has taken responsibility for making that call.

What’s clear, however, is that the Parole Board of Canada also has concerns about Dueck.

In an October 2022 decision,  the board pointed out that Dueck had been on some form of court-ordered supervision or had been serving a jail sentence exclusively for offences involving sexual violence, without any real break, for nearly the previous nine years.

At that time, a psychological risk assessment was completed and Dueck was found to be “well above average risk for future sexual offending.” The assessor, in that case, said Dueck could reoffend at any time if he came across a female, of any age, he viewed as “weaker or easily manipulated/controlled.”