CRANBROOK (NEWS1130) – The man who pleaded guilty to abducting a three-year-old Sparwood boy last year spent a lot of time on his computer writing notes to the family of Kienan Hebert, and that is how police were able to move in on him right after he returned the boy.

This is coming our of the sentencing hearing of Randall Hopley in Cranbrook.

Canadian Press Reporter Bill Graveland is there and says there are a lot of things we didn’t know about as to how Mounties brought him into custody.

 ”He went on a number of websites as himself. He apologized to the Herbert family, said that he had not harmed the boy. Police checked the IP address and found exactly where the boy had been held for a number of days.”

He heard that Randall Hopley took the three-year-old to gain attention and that he expected to get caught. Hopley told cops he would have taken Kienan’s brother Caleb but he had a heart condition.

Hopley covered his face as he arrived at a courthouse in Cranbrook for a sentencing hearing today.

The Crown says it will apply for a 60-day psychiatric assessment to determine whether child abductor Randall Hopley should be designated a dangerous or long-term offender.

The 46-year-old has already admitted to abducting three-year-old Kienan Hebert from the boy’s home in Sparwood last September. The incident sparked an Amber Alert and massive manhunt that ended when Hopley was arrested a few kilometres from Sparwood, less than two days after Hebert’s return.

Crown Prosecutor Lynal Doerksen says the sentencing hearing will see a three-hour video of Hopley talking about what happened during the abduction.

Hopley has pleaded guilty to abduction of a person under 14 and break and enter with intent to commit an indictable offence, though the Crown stayed a charge of kidnapping.

His mother says she is proud of him for admitting to his crimes and she hopes prison will offer him the help he needs. Hopley’s lawer, William Thorne, isn’t sure whether prison will help his client.

“I’m not sure what help is available. That’s a very difficult question. People with certain kinds of psychiatric and psychological issues, there isn’t much treatment available for them. I suspect that Mr. Hopley may fall into that category,” he explains.

Thorne adds all cases are tough, but, “this one is very unusual; it’s very different… I certainly was never involved in anything like this [before] and I can’t recall ever seeing a reported case that comes even close to this one.”