Abbotsford Facebook predator will be released from jail in 12 days

 

 
 
 
 
Abbotsford Facebook predator Jeffrey Goddard was sentenced to 180 days in jail for breaching his probation. Taking into account time served, he will spend another 12 days in jail.
 

Abbotsford Facebook predator Jeffrey Goddard was sentenced to 180 days in jail for breaching his probation. Taking into account time served, he will spend another 12 days in jail.

Photograph by: File photo , Abbotsford Times

Convicted child lurer Jeffrey Goddard will be released from jail in 12 days after a judge handed him a six-month sentence Thursday for breaking the terms of his probation.

Goddard has been in jail since his arrest nearly six months ago when police learned he had been in contact with a teenage boy through Facebook.

At the time of the interaction, Goddard was on probation after serving a 20-month jail sentence for impersonating a police officer and luring a child over the Internet.

In November, he pleaded guilty to breaching his probation conditions.

Although he was forbidden by the court from having contact with teens or access to the Internet, Goddard had two computers and an active Internet account in his name when he used a fake Facebook profile to "friend" a 15-year-old Abbotsford boy.

He eventually told the boy he had a landscaping company and hired him and a friend to do yard work for two weeks in July 2012.

According to evidence given in court, the two boys worked in Goddard's backyard, eating their lunches in his room, where they saw him chatting online with another youth in the United States.

Although Goddard did not make sexual advances to the two boys in his room, the Crown prosecutor claimed the sexual jokes he made online in front of them could be construed as "grooming behaviour."

Eventually the father of one of the boys became suspicious of the arrangement.

He tried to contact the man his son knew as "Ryan Stewart," but when he went to the home, Goddard answered the door and told him he did not know anyone by that name. An alert neighbour directed the father to police.

Abbotsford Police confirmed Goddard was living in the same house as another high-profile sex offender, Donald Bakker, who was released from prison in late July.

Both men were the subject of public warnings when they moved to Abbotsford.

According to his lawyer, Goddard is seeking a new place to live upon his release in 12 days.

The judge tightened his probation conditions, citing his "blatant" lack of compliance with the original conditions.

In addition to staying away from teens under the age of 16, Goddard is not to possess any device capable of accessing the Internet.

He is not allowed to have an Internet account, and he must let police and probation officers have access to his technical devices to verify his compliance.

Goddard's mother attended the sentencing but did not wish to comment.

Goddard also declined to speak in his defence. He spent much of the hearing staring at the floor.

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Abbotsford Facebook predator Jeffrey Goddard was sentenced to 180 days in jail for breaching his probation. Taking into account time served, he will spend another 12 days in jail.
 

Abbotsford Facebook predator Jeffrey Goddard was sentenced to 180 days in jail for breaching his probation. Taking into account time served, he will spend another 12 days in jail.

Photograph by: File photo , Abbotsford Times

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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