The man accused of killing Serena Vermeersch in Surrey in 2014 has now pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Raymond Caissie appeared in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster Thursday morning.
The 17-year-old’s body was found near the railroad tracks in the 14600-block of 66th Ave. in Surrey.
At the time of Vermeersch’s death, Caissie was a high-risk sex offender who had been released back into the community.
Parole Board documents later revealed Caissie was likely to harm or kill someone.
Caissie was labelled a career criminal, first jailed at the age of 15.
He did 22 years for a kidnapping and rape in the Fraser Valley.
WATCH: Global News archive video on Serena Vermeersch case
The serial offender was denied parole eight times because he was considered likely to commit an offence causing death or serious harm to another person.
“Your case management team is of the opinion that there has been no change in the risk you present to the community…have not participated in any interventions which would reduce your risk to re-offend…continue to be assessed as a moderate to high risk to re-offend violently and sexually,” read part of Caissie’s parole review in January 2013.
His arrest and charge in the Vermeersch killing triggered a province-wide debate on dangerous offenders being out in the public and how to best monitor them.
Former Attorney General Wally Oppal said that in hindsight, Caissie could have been designated a long-term offender and been kept in custody for longer.
“You can’t house people in jails forever, at some stage, some people have to be released. There are some people who should never be released, but those people are few and far between. Maybe this is one of those people that should never have been released.”
Oppal said perhaps now’s the time to have the conversation about how to better protect the public from dangerous offenders such as Caissie.
~With files from Amy Judd, Matt Lee and Terry Schintz
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