The man known as the “Marpole Rapist” for sexually assaulting multiple women more than 30 years ago has been granted full parole, while critics say more should have been done to inform the public about his new freedoms.
In a July 3, 2024, decision, the Parole Board granted Gary Jagur Singh full parole following years of rehabilitation and evaluation.
“The Board concludes that your risk will not be undue on the full parole plan put forward by the (case management team) and that your release on full parole will contribute to the protection of society by facilitating your reintegration as a law-abiding citizen,” the board’s report reads.
Singh, now 68 years old, was sentenced to indefinite incarceration for sexually assaulting 11 women between January 1988 and August 1991, and was designated as a dangerous offender in June 1994.
During his time behind bars, the board’s report says Singh has attended multiple programs, made gains in understanding his behaviour and managing himself, and has “high accountability, motivation, and reintegration potential.”
During his time on day parole, the board says there were no indications of concerning behaviour and Singh even became a peer support worker, helping newly released offenders reintegrate.
Singh’s last psychological risk assessment in 2019 found he was a moderate risk to re-offend but the risk was manageable in the community.
Family members of some of the victims Global News spoke with say they have serious concerns about the lack of notification, saying the community has a right to know if a dangerous offender is living in their community.
Conservative MLA Elenore Sturko was the spokesperson for the Surrey RCMP when Singh was granted day parole.
“Just given the nature of the offenses. I can understand the public would have some apprehension and they would want to make sure that there was some awareness of this individual in the community,” she said.
Sturko says deciding on whether to inform the public must be done on a case-by-case basis and reintegration is an important part of the criminal justice system, but in a case such as this where Singh is designated a violence offender, more consideration should be given.
Singh will still need to abide by multiple conditions, including no contact with his victims or their families, following a curfew, staying away from alcohol and sex trade workers, and reporting all intimate relationships and friendships with women. He is also barred from going to Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and the Sunshine Coast and must attend counselling.
In June 1994, Singh was convicted of four counts of sexual assault with a weapon, seven counts of sexual assault, eight counts of break and enter with intent and three counts of robbery.
He broke into the apartments of eight women in Vancouver’s Marpole neighbourhood while they slept and assaulted them. In many of those instances, he woke the women up, then held knives to the victim’s throats and threatened violence against their children.
Three other women were grabbed on the street and assaulted.
Victim impact statements from the women described their ongoing trauma, fear and mental health struggles. In a recent letter, the board notes in its report that the daughter of one of the victims wrote of the lifelong, devastating impacts the attack had on her and her mother.
Sing was first granted day parole in 2006, but it was revoked in January 2008 after he was seen in the company of a woman believed to be a sex trade worker in late 2007.
In 2017, Singh was given permission for several unescorted temporary absences to help him adjust to living in the community.
Day parole was granted again in November 2019. At the time, he was denied full parole because the board said he had “not demonstrated the sustained and predictable ability to manage your risk in the community for this expanded form of parole.”
In the day parole decision, the board added Singh has various sexual paraphilias — including an attraction to non-consenting partners — which experts said “cannot be cured, but it can be managed.”
The parole board’s decision to grant full parole does not say when Singh’s release would take place.
— with files from Sean Boynton and Rumina Daya