Sex offender's release prompts warning
Timothy Football sexually assaulted 12-year-old girl; has committed numerous violent offences, say RCMP
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Friday, December 9, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A violent offender convicted of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl while babysitting her has been released from jail and RCMP are warning the public to be vigilant.
Police issued a public interest disclosure notice Thursday afternoon stating that Timothy Football, 23, was released from the North Slave Correctional Centre on Dec. 8 and "poses a risk of significant harm to the public."
He has criminal convictions for sexual assault, assault with a weapon, assault, carrying a concealed weapon and breaches of court orders, according to an RCMP news release.
Court documents show Football was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for sexually assaulting the young girl in 2011.
He was placed on the sex offender registry for life, given a DNA order and handed a 10-year firearms ban.
Police are warning residents of Whati to be particularly vigilant. RCMP spokesperson Marie York-Condon wouldn't say whether Whati is Football's home community when asked, although the majority of his crimes on his record appear to have occurred there.
A pre-sentencing report from the 2011 case states Football had two previous sexual assault convictions from 2008 and had since been convicted of weapons-related offences since the sexual assault.
The report also details Football's troubled childhood. He had stated he had been sexually abused as a child himself and that he has "a lot of anger."
In July 2011, Football was convicted of breaking into a home in Whati while the family was on vacation. He was sentenced to three months in jail, given two years of probation and a DNA order. Nearly $3,000 in goods were stolen from the home at the time of the break and enter.
A victim impact statement highlighted that the homeowners felt their safety and security had been taken away, and that they felt scared in their own community.
A March 2016 court file states a 24-month peace bond was ordered for Football after a woman reported she feared he would commit a sexual offence against someone under the age of 16 in Yellowknife.
Football earned further jail time after breaking court conditions last August not to attend a community centre without approval, and not to have contact with anyone under the age of 16.
According to the RCMP news release, Football is required to follow those same court conditions to stay away from people under 16 upon his release from jail on Thursday.
