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'Dangerous offender' who sexually assaulted 9-year-old Surrey girl loses appeal

Kyle Wayne Berkson's indefinite jail sentence stands.
Signs and exterior of the Vancouver Law Courts. - stock photos

A child molester who attacked a nine-year-old Surrey girl has lost his bid to have his court-ordered status as a dangerous offender overturned.

Kyle Wayne Berkson was found guilty in February 2011 of sexual interference (touching someone under 14 for a sexual purpose), invitation to sexual touching, breaking and entering with intent to commit sexual assault with a weapon and uttering threats.

The year prior, he had snuck through the bedroom window of the Surrey child, sexually assaulted her, threatened her and cut her arm before escaping.

The girl testified at trial, saying the man who attacked her looked and sounded like Berkson, a former friend of the family.

Citing a past sexual incident involving a boy, the Crown sought and was granted dangerous offender status for Berkson, resulting in an indeterminate prison sentence with no scheduled date for release.

The sentencing judge said Berkson had shown a failure to control his sexual impulses in the past and demonstrated a "strong" likelihood of not being able to do so in the future.

Berkson appealed his sentence, but lost in B.C. Court of Appeal in Vancouver on Wednesday (May 13).