Accused Toronto sex offender nabbed at U.S. border
Posted May 24, 2017 3:30 pm.
Last Updated February 6, 2019 4:21 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
After nearly a year of living on the lam in Los Angeles, accused Toronto sex offender Mark Holland is now in police custody.
The 40-year-old, who faces several charges of sexual assault for alleged incidents spanning two decades, was apprehended at the Niagara Falls border shortly after 6 a.m. Wednesday.
Police won’t say if he surrendered to border agents or if he was flagged because of multiple arrest warrants on his file.
Holland made an initial court appearance late Wednesday, where he was additionally charged with failing to comply. He was remanded into custody and is scheduled to make another court appearance on Thursday.
Holland, a Toronto club promoter and photographer, was accused of sexually assaulting an aspiring model in March 2016. In the following weeks, several other alleged victims came forward.
As a condition of his bail, he was supposed to be living at his $4,000 rental on Queens Quay. Court documents obtained by CityNews reveal that he was evicted in May 2016, after having accrued four months of rent arrears.
A letter from Holland’s father to his former counsel, dated July 15, 2016, said Holland had moved in with his father at a home on Bayview Avenue but was “working out of the country.”
Holland wasn’t required to surrender his passport as part of his bail conditions.
His Instagram account, since deleted, showed pictures of him and his new California lifestyle, even encouraging his friends to come and visit him.
Last summer, police issued a warrant for his arrest on the grounds he was not complying with his bail conditions, and on Feb. 6, 2017, an additional bench warrant was issued for his arrest. Two months later, his lawyer Randall Barrs removed himself from the case.
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