Police Seek Witness After Sex Offender Re-arrested Minutes After Release

File # 25059360

Atoa is charged with human trafficking of a person under 18, sexual assault of a child under 16, sexual interference, obtaining sexual services of a child for consideration, indecent exposure to a child under 16, sexual counsel of a child, and three counts of unlawful confinement.

Lethbridge Police say a man facing a long list of serious sexual offences was re-arrested less than 30 minutes after being released from custody, a development that has triggered fresh public outrage and renewed questions about how high-risk accused are managed on release.

Police confirmed Wednesday that 50-year-old Skye Atoa was taken back into custody Tuesday afternoon for breaching the conditions of a release order. Atoa had been released following a bail hearing held Monday.

According to police, Atoa was ordered to immediately attend a court-approved residence upon release. Instead, investigators say he made no attempt to comply.

Police say after being dropped off, Atoa went directly to a store. Officers conducting what police described as proactive monitoring observed him standing in very close proximity to a young female in the store’s perfume aisle. He was arrested at the scene without incident.

Lethbridge Police are now asking for the public’s help to identify the female who was near Atoa at the time of the arrest. She is described as having a darker complexion, long dark curly hair parted in the middle, wearing a black top and dark blue pants, and carrying a small white shopping bag. Police ask her to contact investigators at 403-328-4444 and reference file 25059360.

The speed of Atoa’s re-arrest has intensified anger online, where many Canadians are openly questioning how an accused facing multiple child-related sexual offences was released in the first place.

Atoa is charged with human trafficking of a person under 18, sexual assault of a child under 16, sexual interference, obtaining sexual services of a child for consideration, indecent exposure to a child under 16, sexual counsel of a child, and three counts of unlawful confinement. He also faces charges related to a separate sexual assault involving a vulnerable adult. Police say he is now additionally charged with failing to comply with a release order.

The original charges stem from two incidents involving vulnerable females.

On Tuesday morning, Staff Sgt. Ashlin Snowdon of the Lethbridge Police Criminal Investigation Section detailed the investigation. He said police responded on Dec. 19, 2025, to a report that a 14-year-old girl was being held inside an apartment in the 500 block of 8 Street South. When officers arrived, a male answered the door and the girl was found inside in medical distress. She was taken to hospital.

Snowdon said officers later executed a search warrant at the residence and located two additional girls, aged 15 and 16, who had allegedly been unlawfully confined for several hours.

Police also allege Atoa is connected to a separate incident in October 2025 involving the sexual assault of a 24-year-old vulnerable woman at his residence. Charges in that case were laid following continued investigation and evidence gathered during the December probe.

Following his re-arrest Tuesday, Atoa was remanded into custody after a Judicial Interim Release hearing. He is scheduled to appear in court on the new breach charge on Jan. 15.

While the case is before the courts, the optics of an accused being free for less than half an hour before allegedly violating release conditions have left many Canadians furious. Online commentary has been blunt, with calls for tougher bail standards, stricter supervision, and greater consideration for public safety, particularly when allegations involve children.

For communities across southern Alberta, including Medicine Hat, the case is being watched closely as another flashpoint in a national debate over bail, accountability, and the balance between individual rights and public protection.