An elderly sex offender will be released at the end of this month under strict parole conditions while he awaits deportation.
Anton Paul Rapati, 87, was convicted in February 2009 of a host of sexual offences and was handed a 25-month prison sentence.
According to a decision from the National Parole Board, Rapati is set for statutory release July 2, after serving 16 months.
Rapati’s release is automatic and does not come as part of a hearing or adjudication, but the board did impose conditions he will be required to follow.
“Given your deviant sexual behaviours leading to your current convictions, you are to report all relationships to your parole officer.”
Rapati is also forbidden from having any interactions with children unless supervised by a pre-approved adult and must avoid areas like schools, playgrounds, pools and other places where children congregate.
The crimes to which Rapati pleaded guilty last year dated back decades.
Rapati was convicted of several counts of sexual abuse against a 12-year old boy. The abuse took place between 1972 and 1976. Rapati pleaded guilty to abusing a young boy from 1974 to 1978.
The allegations against Rapati did not come forward until the early 1990s when one of the victim’s stepped forward.
A preliminary inquiry was held in 1992, but after trial dates were set Rapati fled to Holland. He was arrested in 2008 when he returned to St. Albert and one of his victims notified the RCMP.
Rapati is Dutch and does not possess Canadian citizenship. In between 1992 and his arrest he lived in the Netherlands but reportedly made multiple trips back to Canada.
The report mentions he is facing deportation and the parole board requires him to report to Corrections Canada if he plans on returning to the country.
Lisa White, a spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency, could not confirm any details about Rapati’s individual case, but said non-citizens who commit crimes are not welcome in Canada.
“Foreign nationals and permanent residents who commit crimes in Canada will be subject to a deportation order,” she said. “It is our priority to enforce these removal orders as quickly as possible.”
She said the agency would only confirm someone’s deportation after they have been removed and border agents have returned to Canada.
