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Wednesday, Feb 09,
2005 Victoria
police issue warning about sex offender VICTORIA
(BC Newspaper Group) — A violent and dangerous sex offender's release
from prison last week prompted Victoria police to issue a notice warning
in the interest of public safety. Convicted rapist Terry Samuel Arnold was
released from William Head prison Thursday after serving a sentence for
breaching his probation on an earlier charge of possession and
distribution of child pornography. Arnold has a long criminal history that
includes multiple convictions for assault and sexual assault involving
teens and children. In 1999, the 42-year-old was convicted
of murdering of Kimberly teenager Christine Brown in Keremos in 1991, but
Arnold's lawyers appealed and the charges were stayed in March 2002. Arnold has done time for various sex
offences, including the rape of three Newfoundland girls aged 10, 14 and
16 in 1991. Also distrubing are a string of cases in which Arnold has
either been a suspect or had a close connection. While serving time for Browne's murder
in 2000, Winnipeg police named Arnold as a suspect in the 1981 murder of
16-year-old Barbara Stoppel in Winnipeg. Arnold and Stoppel worked for a
carnival company at the Red River Exhibition that summer. In December
1981, Stoppel was brutally attacked in a Winnipeg doughnut shop across the
street from Arnold's apartment. She died six days later. The original suspect, Thomas Sophonow,
went on trial three times before he was finally acquitted in 1999. In 1998, Calgary police revealed that
Arnold was a suspect in the 1987 murder of 17-year-old Denise Lapiere. Her
body was discovered in a lane less than 50 metres from a Calgary home that
was rented by Arnold and one of his half brothers. Arnold was also living in Cultus Lake in
1988 when Roberta Ferguson, a 19-year-old Surrey resident, went missing
from a campground 600 metres from his home. Ferguson's body has never been
found, and Arnold has not been named as a suspect in the case. Arnold was charged with three other
counts of sexual assault in and around Chilliwack that year but convicted
only once. In 1991, a Keremeos a woman filed a complaint, saying Arnold
sexually assaulted her and kept her confined for four days. She later
refused to proceed with charges. The term of Arnold's release from
custody prohibit him from being found in the company of any person under
18 years of age or attending any area where persons under 14 years of age
can be found, including parks, swimming pools, schoolgrounds, playgrounds,
community centres and day-care centres. Arnold is also prohibited from
using Internet cafes. Police included a recent picture of
Arnold with their notification but said he has been known to change his
appearance. He stands five-foot-10 tall, weighs 180 pounds and has blue
eyes.
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