John Colebourn

Girls' release under review

Sgt. Willy Laurie said they had no choice but to release the girls after all attempts to contact a guardian failed.

"We called the ministry and said they should be looked after. Did the ministry come and get them? No."

The children were taken into custody Jan. 2 after a raid on the home of Frank Kim.

After the investigation, Kim, 24, was charged with sexual assault, making child pornography videos, posession of child porn, procuring a person under the age of 14 for sex and possession of a weapon. One girl was 12.

Because the girls would be back on the street, Laurie said police tried to persuade them to stay the night. But he said they wanted to be released.

"For their safety we asked them to stay ... But we didn't have any legal authority to detain them," he said.

Police routinely deal with the ministry. "If it had been handled in a different way and there could be a different result, we review it with them."

Kim was ordered to hand over his passport and stay away from the Broadway and Fraser area.