An elderly man who sexually assaulted young boys in the 1970s has been deported.
Anton Paul Rapati, 87, who committed several sexual assaults in St. Albert, was deported to the Netherlands on Monday.
The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) yesterday confirmed the deportation took place following Rapati’s release from prison on Friday.
In February 2009, Rapati was sentenced to a 25-month prison term for the decades-old assaults and was released after serving two-thirds of that sentence.
Though the decision to release him from prison was automatic, the parole board did impose a number of conditions on him earlier this month.
He was banned from being around children unsupervised or from attending at parks, schools or playgrounds.
Lisa White, a spokesperson for the CBSA, said Rapati is now permanently barred from returning to Canada.
“Deportation orders are permanent.”
White said the agency had a hold on Rapati since his conviction and was held in its custody over the weekend until his deportation could take place.
“Our priority is to enforce that removal order as quickly as possible.”
The crimes Rapati pleaded guilty to last year dated back decades.
He was convicted of a torrent of sexual abuse against a 12-year-old boy from 1972 to 1976 and pleaded guilty to abuse against another young boy that took place between 1974 and 1978.
The allegations against Rapati did not come forward until the early 1990s when one of the victims stepped forward.
A preliminary inquiry was held in 1992 on the charges but Rapati fled to Holland after trial dates were set. He was arrested in 2008 when he returned to St. Albert and one of his victims notified the RCMP.
In between 1992 and his arrest, Rapati lived in the Netherlands, but reportedly made multiple trips back to Canada.
