A high-risk sex offender who ditched his monitoring bracelet is still on the run and is likely hiding in the Lethbridge, Alta., area, police said Tuesday.
Lethbridge Regional Police say that 48-year-old Michael Sean Stanley has a long history of sexual offences against women and children and “poses a risk of significant harm to the community.”
Police said they’ve already received numerous uncorroborated reports of sightings, and are continuing to ask anyone who sees Stanley in Lethbridge or elsewhere to contact them immediately.
"His range of victims -- his target selection if you will -- range from young to old, male and female, so there is no saying just who would be a target for Mr. Stanley," Staff-Sgt. Ian Sanderson said Tuesday.
"It is just that his past history has proven he will target anybody."
Police say that Stanley has victimized people of various ages, including children who were taken from playgrounds and seniors.
“If we go back to 1988 when he offended with an aggravated sexual assault against a senior citizen victim, he proved at that point in time that victims were meaningless to him,” Sanderson said. “He would offend in any way shape or form.”
Stanley was released from prison in 2011, after serving a 32-month sentence for assault and forcible confinement. He is on Alberta’s high-risk offenders list.
He is now wanted for breaching the conditions of his release.
The RCMP has been looking for Stanley since Oct. 1, when vanished from Edmonton. His electronic monitoring bracelet was later found in Lloydminster, located on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border.
On Monday, police said they seized Stanley’s purple Chevrolet Blazer from a west-end Lethbridge home, and confirmed that he was in the city on Oct 4.
Stanley has family and friends in Lethbridge, and they contacted police after he arrived in the city.
Sanderson said the man's relatives were urging him to give himself up.
"The family is hopeful that Mr. Stanley will do the right thing," he said. "There has been a lot of encouragement expressed from family for Mr. Stanley -- surrender yourself."
Sanderson added that Stanley has a problem with alcohol and authorities believe he has been “consuming heavily.”
Communities and school boards have been notified of the situation and Canadian border guards are also on alert should Stanley attempt to flee to the United States.
Notices have been sent to parents of students at Lethbridge schools.
“This gives us all a reminder that we also want students aware and vigilant in terms of how they proceed to and from school, especially,” Lethbridge Public School District superintendent Cheryl Gilmore told CTV Regina.
Stanley was being monitored by police under a peace bond, which authorities use to impose conditions on individuals in the community. His peace bond has 20 conditions, including one ordering him to stay away from children.
With a report from CTV Calgary and files from The Canadian Press
