A man convicted of a string of violent sexual assaults against B.C. women in 2009 appeared in Vancouver Provincial Court Aug. 30 on two charges of allegedly breaching a long-term supervision order.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Barry Davies put Sean Richard Funk, 50, on the order after the man pleaded guilty to six offences, including several violent attacks on women.
In B.C., those included threatening a woman at a tanning salon in North Vancouver, then progressed to violent sexual attacks on strangers in both Squamish and Ladysmith and holding up a gas station on the Island Highway.
An Aug. 15 court document alleged Funk violated the order May 25 when he consumed drugs other than those prescribed to him. It further alleged he violated the order the same day by associating with people involved in substance abuse or criminal activity.
Funk appeared before Judge Jay Solomon on Friday. He has consented to remain in custody until his next appearance on Sept. 13.
Solomon heard that if Funk is to have a bail hearing, it would have to take place in a trial court.
The case is one of a number currently before the courts where offenders have breached such orders designed to re-integrate offenders into the community, where they live in designated places under strict conditions.
A recent high-profile case was that of convicted child sex offender Randall Hopley, who went missing for 10 days from his Vancouver halfway house in November 2023.
Funk’s background
After he was arrested, Funk also confessed to violent crimes he committed that summer in Manitoba.
Psychological assessments entered in the sentencing hearing painted Funk as a "moderate to high risk" for sexual violence in the future, fuelled by his need for power and control, substance abuse and unresolved issues towards women.
Funk's violent spree started July 1, 2009 in Winnipeg when he approached a 19-year-old woman working at a gas station with a knife and demanded money. She handed over $200.
Two weeks later, Funk went into a tanning salon in Winnipeg with a knife and demanded cash from the 26-year-old woman who was working there. He then ordered her into the laundry room and sexually assaulted her.
A few weeks later, on Aug. 7, 2009, Funk walked into another tanning salon — this time in North Vancouver — and demanded cash from the lone female employee. He took off.
On Aug. 27, 2009, a woman was sleeping alone in her car in the parking lot of a recreation centre near Squamish, when Funk smashed the car window in, hit her and drove her to a wooded area where he repeatedly sexually assaulted her.
On Sept. 26, 2009, Funk broke into an unlocked home of a stranger in Ladysmith at 3 a.m. Once in the house, Funk made his way to a woman's bedroom, choked her and forced her to have sex before she was able to grab her cellphone and scream for her daughter to call 911.
On Oct. 17, 2009, Funk held up the Petro Canada gas station on the Island Highway, demanding money from the 21-year-old woman working there.
Traumatized
Funk's victims were traumatized by his attacks on them. One woman said "she no longer feels safe in any situation in which she does not have an escape route," according to court documents, while another said she no longer walks alone after dark.
Funk was eventually caught in November 2009 when a woman in Regina — who had learned through media reports that police were looking for Funk — called police to say he was living with her daughter.
Funk's troubled childhood included alcoholic parents and a home life characterized by violence, poverty and drug abuse.
After he was arrested in Regina, he told police, "I feel bad. I never wanted to do this stuff. .. none of it was planned."
Crown counsel Nicole Gregoire asked that Funk be declared a dangerous offender, which would have allowed him to be locked up for an indeterminate length of time.
However, Justice Barry Davies ruled Funk's sexual violence appears to have been triggered by substance abuse and severe depression. That could likely be treated with "medication and intensive counselling," he determined.
Davies decided Funk should be declared a long-term offender instead.
With files from Jane Seyd
