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High-risk sex offender back in custody: Vancouver police

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A high-risk sex offender who went missing soon after being released from prison to a halfway house in Vancouver is back in custody, police said Saturday.

Tony Okanase, 39, was released from Mountain Institution Friday. He reported to the halfway house but later that day failed to return. That triggered a warning from the Vancouver Police Department and a Canada-wide warrant for his arrest.

On Saturday, the VPD said, in a statement, that Okanase was spotted by a community policing volunteer in the Joyce-Collingwood neighbourhood and "arrested without incident." 

When issuing the warning, the VPD said Okanase has a history of violent sexual offences against strangers dating back to 2003 and is considered "a high risk to the public."

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