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Kienan’s abductor in court Monday

Dangerous offender hearing for Randall Hopley will be held in Cranbrook Supreme Court

The man convicted in the September 2011 abduction of Sparwood three-year-old Kienan Hebert is back in court starting Monday.

Randall Hopley, 48, will be the subject of a dangerous offender hearing in Cranbrook Supreme Court October 7 to 11.

In March 2012, Hopley pleaded guilty to abduction of a child under 14, and break and enter with the intent to commit an offence.

A sentencing hearing on these charges was held in Cranbrook last July.

During that hearing, Crown prosecutor Lynal Doerksen asked the court to consider Hopley for dangerous offender status.

Rarely used, the dangerous offender designation sets apart offenders of violent or sexual crimes who are deemed likely to reoffend and whose release is considered a threat to society.

The dangerous offender hearing is a continuation of Hopley's sentencing.

On September 7, 2011, Kienan Hebert’s family reported him missing after they woke up and released the three-year-old son was missing from the home.

An amber alert was issued and emergency responders from all over the East Kootenay rushed to Sparwood to take part in an extensive search for the little boy, who was wearing nothing but Scooby Doo boxer shorts when he went disappeared.

Four days later, an anonymous 911 caller reported that Kienan had been returned to his home. In the middle of the night, the little boy was found inside the house.

On September 13, 2011, a police sniffer dog tracked Randall Hopley to a gravel pit in Crowsnest Lake, Alberta, near the abandoned cabin where he had kept Kienan for four days.

During Hopley’s sentencing hearing, the court heard that Hopley chose the Hebert home for his abduction plan because he noticed toys in the yard and found the front door unlocked. Hopley also said he returned the boy because he asked to go home.