But Glenn Flett, director of a prisoner support group called LINC, also warned against ostracizing Callow -- and inadvertently making the situation worse.

"I'm frustrated by this case," Flett told The Province yesterday.

"It is a difficult, difficult thing for the community to have this man living with them, but it's also foolish to try to chase him out. There's no evidence that's a safe thing to do, and it certainly isn't going to solve the problem."

Dr. Darryl Plecas, criminology professor at the University College of the Fraser Valley, agreed that Fraser Heights, Callow's new community, is caught between "a rock and a hard place."

"On one hand, you want an offender who has served his time to reintegrate successfully back into the community and become a regular member of society. Protests aren't going to do that . . . But in an ideal world, he'd have done things to minimize the risk to reoffend," Plecas said.

It's that risk that most terrifies Ian MacPherson, president of the Fraser Heights Community Association. The father of a teenage daughter said Callow's decision to move to Surrey became personal when he realized the implications for his loved ones.

"This is a very, very direct threat to our sense of safety," MacPherson said. "I have to worry now when my wife goes out for a walk, and walking alone is just out of the question.

"We can't leave windows open, and we'll have to lock doors. All the things we take for granted, we'll have to think twice about."

Callow, 52, has finished serving a 20-year sentence for a string of five sexual assaults in downtown Toronto in the summer of 1986.

Dubbed the Balcony Rapist, Callow would stalk his victims to find out if they lived alone, then break in to their second- and third-floor apartments through balcony doors, threatening them at knifepoint before tying them up and raping them. Callow's victims endured up to 90 minutes of assault.

When Callow was first released from prison in February and tried to settle in Surrey, Steve Sullivan, executive director of the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime, told The Province that Callow was "one of the worst [sexual offenders] . . . This is a guy who our best experts, with their risk-assessment tools, say will do this again."

Eight times during his sentence, a national parole board panel deemed Callow a very high risk to reoffend and ordered him detained.

Protests prompted Callow to leave Surrey after a week and move to New Westminster. Now he has returned and is living with his sister.

Surrey MLA Harry Bains said he was "appalled" to learn Callow had returned: "Once again, Surrey has become a dumping ground for criminals from across Canada. We made it clear when he first tried to move to Surrey. We told authorities we didn't want him," Bains said.

In a letter to the Surrey RCMP, Bains asked police what steps they will take to monitor Callow.

Surrey RCMP Cpl. Roger Morrow said that while Callow has been living in New Westminster for the past few months, he has still been spending "by far the vast majority" of his time in Surrey.

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said the city is going to do its "due diligence" to make residents aware of the risk.

"We're going to make sure everyone knows he's here and that his picture is circulated," she said.

But Watts said the federal government needs to "step up to the plate" to prevent others like Callow from being released.

Plecas agreed, but said he thought Callow should have been given a life sentence 20 years ago, which would have forced him to undergo treatment if he wanted to be freed. It would also have enabled Corrections to keep a closer watch on him.

A community meeting about the issue is planned for tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the Fraser Heights high school. gluymes@png.canwest.com

© The Vancouver Province 2007