Thane Moore will not be relocating to Dawson City, the town's mayor confirmed this morning.

John Steins said the 42-year-old convicted rapist, who was labelled as a high risk to reoffend, changed his mind over the weekend after meeting with RCMP officers who presented Moore with a letter from Steins and other material.

Moore indicated he did not want to fail upon his release later this week after 14 years in prison.

He accepted the outrage Dawsonites have been expressing since learning last week of his intentions to relocate there did not bode well for his success, the mayor indicated in an interview this morning.

Stein said Moore's decision is a positive reflection of Moore and his desire to succeed in society upon his release.

'This is a glimmer of hope that he has recognized his situation and his condition and does not was to fail,' Steins said.

'I want to emphasize the positive. That is a big leap forward in his own rehabilitation and that should be recognized.

'That is how I feel about it.'

The mayor said he was informed of Moore's decision by the RCMP at about 10;30 this morning, and word quickly spread through town.

Moore was convicted in 1993 of brutally raping a P.E.I. woman who'd stopped to give him a lift when he was hitchhiking. He twice choked her into unconsciousness, before leaving her for dead and fleeing in the woman's car.

Authorities have described him as a high risk to reoffend.

Moore's intention to move to Dawson upon his release from a New Brunswick penitentiary was well publicized last week during a court appearance to place conditions on his release.

One of the conditions requested by the federal Crown's office was that he not reside in Whitehorse, or even visit Whitehorse.

The conditions were good for a year, though there is nothing preventing the Crown from seeking an extension to the peace bond after the first year is up.

Evidence before the court indicated that Moore has written nasty letters to some people he had met when he first came to Whitehorse in 2000 on his first taste of parole.

He was sent back to prison in 2001 on a parole violation, but escaped in 2002, though he was recaptured a day later.

Other conditions imposed on Moore last week prohibited him from contacting a long list of individuals, some of whom are Whitehorse residents.

When it was learned he was planning to move to Dawson City instead, the response was fast and furious.

The community began a petition calling on the Yukon government to resist Moore's relocation there. The town's lawyer was instructed to review the case with an eye to somehow fight his plans.

And a town hall meeting was planned for tonight to address the Moore case.

Stein declined to release his letter to Moore that was delivered over the weekend, suggesting he did not want to inflame the matter in any way.

He said he pointed out to Moore that Dawson has a seasonal economy, and there wouldn't be much hope for work, nor would finding a place to live be easy in a small, tightly-knitted town where the vacancy rate is already extremely tight.

It was pointed out to him that there is no men's shelter in the community and very little in terms of professional support progamming that would be available to him, Steins explained.

The mayor said he also mentioned the petition to halt the offender's relocation there, and the public's resistance to his plans.

'In a very nice way ... I tried to convince him that he was not welcome here.'

Information regarding whether Moore, a P.E.I. native, has chosen another town or city to move to was not available.

Steins said the town hall meeting will go ahead in any case to give residents a public forum to talk about anything on their minds, including how the community might respond if something like the Moore situation arose again.

The town's lawyer is also working with the Crown to see if they can have Dawson officially ruled off-limits, he said.

Steins explained last week it didn't make sense to prohibit Moore from being in Whitehorse and not Dawson, because Whitehorse and the smaller communities are so intertwined, they're almost one in the same.

See Uffish Thoughts, p. 9.