Yellowknife (Apr 16/03) - Terrance Mandeville's probation conditions make it impossible for him to live and set him up for failure, according to Karen Hoeft of the Salvation Army.

Until his latest probation breach -- a conviction for smoking marijuana -- Mandeville was living in Yellowknife under strict probation conditions.

The 28 probation conditions included staying 50 metres from any school, library, playground or any other place children under 18 are present.

He was not allowed to be in the presence of anyone under 18 unless supervised by an adult approved by the RCMP or Probation Services.

The 32-year-old man has 13 past convictions, four for sex offences, two involve children. He is considered extremely likely to reoffend.

However, Hoeft told Yellowknifer this type of probation leaves people like Mandeville with nowhere to go. There is hardly any place in Yellowknife that isn't 50 metres from a prohibited place, said Hoeft.

"You're going to breach no matter what you do. So either you breach or you get suicidal, how do you live? ... I don't know how he lives with these conditions, they might as well put him in jail."

She added Mandeville is "is not much different than a bunch of other people we've had in our community who aren't charged or caught."

Two weeks ago, RCMP released a public interest disclosure about Mandeville. Hoeft said the resulting media coverage and information going out in schools has instilled paranoia in the community.

"People are saying do you know we have a sex offender in town? I'm saying do you know we have lots of sex offenders in town?"

"There is a big difference between whose names get released and whose don't," she said. "Usually it's those who can't fight for themselves."

She suggested RCMP released his name to protect themselves from a lawsuit rather than because it's a just thing to do.

And she questioned if Mandeville is really a risk to children he doesn't know. According to Mandeville's court file, he knew at least two of the four people he was convicted of sexually assaulting.

Hoeft stressed she is not a personal advocate for Mandeville and does not want to paint him as a victim. But she questioned why police release information about some and not others.

And she said she believes Mandeville's conditions would be impossible for anyone to abide by.

"I don't like impossible solutions. It's a no-win for everybody."

Sgt. Al McCambridge said the conditions were developed by the Crown and defence lawyers with input from the RCMP, Probation Services and Mandeville himself.

He said the RCMP issues public interest disclosures very rarely -- he remembers just three instances in the NWT.

"They are only used for the most serious offences and where there are no other means to ensure public safety,"he said.

McCambridge said information gleaned from the Correctional Service of Canada and from the man's criminal record convinced RCMP the threat to public safety outweighed Mandeville's privacy rights.

McCambridge said he can't comment on how many of Mandeville's victims were known to him.

"All I can say is we felt there was sufficient risk to the general public."