Talal El Bakkar seen outside provincial court in Nanaimo during his November 2018 sentencing hearing. CHEK News

By Ian Holmes

Underage Sex Offender

Convicted sex offender El Bakkar arrested for allegedly breaching probation

May 7, 2019 | 12:09 PM

NANAIMO — A much-maligned downtown Nanaimo restaurant owner jailed for having sex with an underage girl is facing a new allegation.

Talal El Bakkar was charged with breaching his probation by missing his curfew on March 1. He pleaded not guilty via his lawyer Michael Ritzker at provincial court in Nanaimo on Tuesday.

El Bakkar will now go to trial on Aug. 13 and could face jail time if convicted of breaching his probation.

He was released on bail on April 30.

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Ritzker said his client was unfairly treated by Nanaimo RCMP after news broke of El Bakkar’s conviction last November.

He claimed El Bakkar’s restaurant Aladdin’s Cafe was vandalized numerous times and shot at with pellet guns. He also alleged El Bakkar’s wife was spat on in one incident and the restaurant owner has suffered vicious verbal attacks.

“It’s scandalous, it’s outrageous,” Ritzker told NanaimoNewsNOW outside of court.

“Dozens and dozens of incidents of harassment and the police have done nothing. This is how they react, by harassing Mr. El Bakkar.”

Ritzker said some people have unsuccessfully tried to provoke his client into violent altercations.

El Bakkar was sentenced to a 90-day intermittent jail sentence last fall and three-years probation, which was the lightest sentence possible.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes.