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â€" Child molester still under surveillance By Jim MacDonald The Regional police force‘s Waterloo detachment will remain closed until repairs have been made to satisfy conâ€" cerns about the building‘s safety . 'vfiéi)airs to the build'ing's roof trusses, estimated to cost less than $1,000, will begin early next week after Regional council approves the work tomorrow. However, doubts have been raised about the need for the police to evacuate the building last Wednesday. In a report last week, Waterloo‘s chief building officer Walter Scheifele indicated the building was "unsafe"" and directed the Region, who owns the building, to make necesâ€" sary repairs within 90 days. Under another subsection of the Ontario Building Code, the city could have directed the occupants to vacate the building "which we didn‘t do,"‘ explained Mr. Scheifele in an interâ€" view this morning. "This was not in our order."‘ â€" iie ;Jégested that "someone was reading the report differâ€" ently than it was worded."‘ _ But based on the report, which said the "roof system is obviously not structurally sound and is incapable of supportâ€" ;r;g ;r;lâ€"})‘;sed loads," the Regional police commission last Wednesday ordered the building temporarily closed until the safety question was crlea_lred up. Mr. Scheifele forwarded a followâ€"up clarification to the Region this week explaining the city‘s position that it did not direct the police to vacate the building. But Police Chief Syd Brown indicated in an interview yesâ€" By Paul Marck Nobody‘s pressing the panic button yet, but police, â€"school‘ board officials, and presumably parents, are upset at reports that a known child molester has reâ€" turned to the Twin Cities after being released from penitentiary last week. ' _ A confidential OPP report leaked to a Toronto newsâ€" paper last week labels the 39â€"yearâ€"old man as "a dangerous sexual psychopath." _ > â€" o Last February, after release from Kingston Peniâ€" tentiary, he was placed under mandatory superviâ€" sion â€" meaning he would have to report to police and a parole officer regularly â€" but was back in jail after a week for hanging around men‘s washâ€" rooms and school playgrounds in Kâ€"W. The man has a lengthy criminal record, with a history of violence against children. His last convicâ€" tion, in 1974, was for beating up a nineâ€"yearâ€"old girl after she entered a woman‘s washroom he was hiding in. While in jail, he collected newspaper clippings about Twin City children, and charted maps pinâ€" pointing school playgrounds in the area. _ _ Last week he again came up for release, under conâ€" ditions of mandatory supervision. o â€" That was Monday night, the same night he and his parole officer reported in to the Waterloo Reâ€" gional Police, as he will be required to do twice a week until May. 1978. And since news of his return to the area leaked out, Regional police have kept "a dozen men around the clock® watching the man. says Police Chief Syd Brown. _Chief Brown said he has had "a number of calls" from parents, teachers, and students concerning the man. ‘‘*Most callers are frustrated that he‘s here at all," Chief Brown said. He said he tells most callers to write a letter to their MP . And, keeping the man under observation continualâ€" ly is ‘"another headache‘"" since the police departâ€" ment is short staffed. Chief Brown has fought Regional council and the police commission for more men and funds recently. _ ‘"We‘re tying up at least a dozen men around the clock. How long can you justify that surveillance on just one person. " he asked. _ _ _ â€" Chief Brown said ‘"rather than hit the panic butâ€" ton"* when trying to calm alarmed callers, he tells teachers to caution their students about having anything to do with strangers. Police in Belleville, where the man had been arâ€" rested and jailed for assaulting another child, said they didn‘t know why the man hadn‘t been declared a dangerous sexual offender and confined to an inâ€" stitution. under provisions of the criminal code. According to psychiatric reports at the National Parole Board, the man is ‘"not insane . . . and do not mean he‘s not dangerous."" _ â€" O _ Meanwhile, local school boards are pretty much at a loss over what to do. â€" Frank Clifford, Waterloo County Separate School Board administrator, .said he has issued no formal directive to schools concerning potential dangers. # fea ~* _ mdoa a ® " Waterloo police building remains closed But was it necessary? Dennis Edissi, President of the Canadian Mental Health Association shows off some pieces of Canadian and international art that will be auctioned off Friday, Nov. 4, at the Waterloo Region mental health fifth annual art auction at the Kitchener Knights of Columbus Hall, Manitou Dr. There will be 150 original pieces auctioned. Shown in picture are, clockwise from top left, a Ken Danby, and original lithography by Edna Hibel, an oil by Sheila Ratchford, and signed screen print by Ron Bott. Mr. Edissi is seen holding an original marble piece by David Bernett. 3 terday that police would not move back until repairs have been made. | â€" _ _ Police can‘t keep jumping back and forth depending upon different engineering reports, he said. The move affects 39 officers who work in three shifts out of the Albert Street building plus three other tenants â€" the Waâ€" terloo Regional sports council, the union of injured workers and the weaver‘s guild. Mr. Scheifele doesn‘t consider the building dangerous though it is potentially if the second floor was overloaded. "It all depends on how they occupy it."‘ WFâ€"’ovl-iVée v;rill‘oper?zte out of the Kitchener headquarters until repairs are completed. _ ' B;t I;érbointed out the second floor was not being used when he inspected the building. ‘‘Someone‘s playing games obviously,"‘ responded comâ€" mission chairman Steve Harper, ‘*You can‘t have two diaâ€" metrically opposed engineering reports whether it‘s safe or unsafe. I can‘t accept that." Regional engineéring commissioner D‘Arcy Dutton said Thursday that the building‘s deficiencies are "not as major as they are made out to be."‘ â€" â€" _Chief Brown told the poliéé commission last Wednesday that a police officer and a Regional engineer who inspected the building felt it was safe for another 74 years. The roof trusses are not in danger of ‘‘imminent collapse"‘, Mr. Dutton told the Regional engineering committee who voted to make repairs as soon as possible. Mr. Clifford said he‘s "gratified" that a block parent program exists in the Twin Cities. . And while some corners have blasted the media for overâ€"dramatizing the case, Mr. Clifford doesn‘t think so. | "If there‘s any possible danger to a child, then I don‘t ‘think it‘s blown out of proportion. If we could do one thing to prevent an incident, then it‘s all worthwhile." + Bill Townshend, superintendenht of operations for the Waterloo County Board of Education said princiâ€" pals are periodically told to educate pupils about the danger of associating with strangers. Mr. Clifford said that as an individual, rather than a public official, he "can‘t understand why the laws of the land would allow a person who could be a threat to society on the loose." _ â€" With the recent publicity about the child molester, all schools were phoned and reminded to caution ART AUCTION FOR A CAUSE °_ Weterloo Chranicle, Wednesday, October 26, 1977 â€" Page 3 Regional administrator W.L. Bradley suggested the police are using the safety question as an excuse to close down the detachment. o _‘l:l:)v\;é;;er; Mr. Harper last Wednesday emphasized that the detachment‘s operations would only be suspended temâ€" porarily. e He pointed out, though, that authorities will have to come to the conclusion that the police need new buildings ; it‘s only a question of when and where. He feels police have been operating out of some "pretty junky‘‘ buildings. it shinlcatonas ~anacce I" M . Both Mr. Dutton and Mr. Scheifele note that the_building‘s problems stem back many years. Mr. Scheifele recalled in 1963, when the building was used as a library, that the chilâ€" dren‘s department had to be moved from the second floor into the basement after doubts were raised about the load the second floor could safely handle. Last Thursday, Waterloo Ald. Brian Turnbull criticized the "heavy handed approach‘‘ taken by the Region toward the problem. _ + 'i‘he record has not been good regarding communication with the city," said Ald. Tqmyull. “‘fi;[â€";al-l'soto be madevby Regi;)nal staff, are expected to be completed within arcquple of weeks. “.fiégâ€"{(;n;fdéhaiman Jack Young disagreed, pointing out the building is owned by the Region. vvfi;-;fi;iiection of the building was initiated when the city learned occupancy by the weaver‘s guild could involve heavy equipment on the second floor. students again, he said. . Two University of Waterloo psychology professors, who study deviant behavior, were reluctant to comâ€" ment on the case: "I would be totally reluctant to judge the individuâ€" al unless I had a chance to talk to nim," Ur. Bob Prus said. Automatically presuming the man to still be a pervert could unnecessarily alarm people, he said. ‘‘People can change. The question is did he or didn‘t he?, . ~ However, Dr. Prus did say that all the publicity about the man would make it "very difficult for him to live a normal life , . . perhaps he should move somewhere else."‘ . j Another psychologist studying deviancy, Dr. Edâ€" mund Vaz, said: "It looks as if the newspapers are making a big deal over another sex story . . . I disapâ€" prove of purpleâ€"patch reporting.""