Police release sex assault ‘person of interest’

Police vehicle blocks entrance to trails near Sheridan resident on Tuesday night.
Police vehicle blocks entrance to trails near Sheridan resident on Tuesday night.

Halton Regional Police have released “a person of interest” they had in custody in connection with the latest sex assault in the forested pathway area south of Sheridan College’s Trafalgar Campus Tuesday night around 6 p.m. According to a police release, four men in the area chased a suspect.

Investigators with the Child Abuse and Sexual Assault unit conducted a thorough investigation and deemed the person of interest not responsible for the sexual assault that occurred.  The man has been released without charges.

The four male witnesses who chased the suspect have been identified and are cooperating with the police.

Investigators believe this offender may also be responsible for the assaults that occurred in August and October of 2013 at the same location.

Police are calling  for help to ID the male suspect, who is described as being between 5-foot-4 and 5-foot-6, slim or medium build, wearing a dark jacket with hood trimmed with light-coloured material.

It is also believed that the suspect was wearing a dark-coloured ski mask or other material that covered his face. The Sheridan Sun interviewed a victim who was assaulted on a path behind the Trafalgar Campus Athletic Centre on Oct. 5 who said her attacker “was completely masked, he had one of those winter masks that people wear,” except it had no eye holes.

During the assault, the victim bit the suspect and there is a strong possibility the suspect will have suffered an injury consistent with a bite mark to one of his hands.

A police statement reminds students to make safety a No. 1 priority.

Witnesses say multiple police vehicles and a Sheridan College security jeep arrived at the Trafalgar Residence 1 parking lot and blocked entrances to the trails Tuesday evening. The police investigation is continuing. Witnesses are asked to contact the Halton Regional Police Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Unit at 905-825-4747, ext. 8970.

Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or via www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637 (crimes).

 

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