Guilty plea from Peachland man who refused to let date out of his car

PEACHLAND – A 36-year-old man has pleaded guilty to forcibly confining and threatening a girl he met online this summer.

Jean-Francois Dufour, 36, was arrested the day after a woman told police he refused to let her out of his vehicle for several hours on Aug. 12, 2016.

He was arrested Aug. 13 after police used a plane to locate him and his silver 2000 Dodge Durango. He was charged with kidnapping, forcible confinement, sexual assault and uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm.

According to court records Dufour pleaded guilty to two of the four charges — forcible confinement and uttering threats — on Friday, Oct. 21.

An August media release, Const. Jesse O’Donaghey says the two met online and had met in person several times.

Dufour remains in custody and is scheduled to be back in court on Dec. 13. He has no prior criminal record in B.C.


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Adam Proskiw

Adam has lived in B.C. most of his life. He was born in the Caribou, grew up in the Okanagan, went to university on Vancouver Island and worked as a news photographer in Vancouver. His favourite stories incorporate meaningful photography and feature interesting, passionate locals. He studied writing at UVic and photojournalism in California. He loves talking tractors, dogs and cameras and is always looking for a good story.


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