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Saturday, June 13, 2009

B.C. man granted bail after 26 years in jail for sex attacks

A man who was found guilty in 1983 of rape and indecent assault involving eight women has been granted bail, pending an appeal of his conviction.

Ivan Henry's grown daughters, Tanya and Kari Henry, hugged and teared up after Justice Peter Lowry of the B.C. Appeal Court read out his ruling Friday.

Henry will face strict bail conditions: he'll live with his daughter in North Vancouver, have a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. and he'll wear an electronic monitoring device.

Henry, who has maintained he was wrongfully convicted, was not in the courtroom. A publication ban prohibits the media from reporting anything about the evidence against Henry.

He has been in custody since July 29, 1982, when he was arrested following a string of attacks against women in Vancouver.

Henry was convicted and declared a dangerous offender the following year. Appeals in 1984 and 1997 were unsuccessful.

However, the B.C. Court of Appeal earlier this year agreed to reopen the case after a review of events by government-appointed lawyer Len Doust concluded the guilty verdict may have been a miscarriage of justice.