Newton community group calls for tougher rules as Surrey teen’s killer’s sentencing looms

With a sentencing date looming for the man convicted of killing 17-year-old Serena Vermeersh, concerns linger about how he was allowed back in the community in the first place.

At the time of Vermeersch’s death, Raymond Caissie was a high-risk sex offender who had been released back into the community.

Speaking with John Daly on CKNW’s Back on the Beat, Doug Elford with the Newton Community Association said tougher rules need to be in place to prevent similar future tragedies.

“There seems to be a loophole where these guys, they do their time, they refuse to be rehabilitated and they just let them loose because they have no choice,” Elford said.

“It’s the system.”

WATCH: Serena Vermeersch murder: Suspect was high risk to re-offend

Raymond Caissie has pleaded guilty to second degree murder in the 2014 death of the Surrey teen.

Vermeersh’s murder happened one year after Caissie was released after serving the entirety of a 22-year prison sentence for a violent sexual assault and kidnapping in Abbotsford.

As a serial offender, he was denied parole eight times over concerns he was “likely to commit an offence causing the death of or serious harm to another person.”

Caisse himself had initially told the Parole Board that he “would like to stay incarcerated for several more years” and that he “feared he would re-offend,” before retracting the statements as his release date approached.

Caissie is due back in court for sentencing on Oct. 20.