15-year-old charged in spate of Toronto sex assaults

[Asrokhel]

Arrest made Saturday at scene of another alleged assault

A 15-year-old boy has been charged in connection with a string of sexual assaults in Toronto's Bloor and Christie area, where female pedestrians were attacked from behind as they walked at night.

Toronto police say the teen ? who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act ? was arrested at around 11 p.m. ET Saturday in the area of Bloor Street West and Roxton Road, at the scene of another alleged sexual assault.

He faces 14 counts of sexual assault and two counts of criminal harassment.

The more than a dozen assaults date back to the summer.

"We believe we have the person responsible for these assaults," said police Chief Bill Blair, who was at a Monday news conference to announce the charges. "These [are] crimes that ... caused a tremendous amount of fear within our community.

"Fear, particularly among women, and their sense of safety in their own neighbourhood was taken from them as a result of these crimes."

Female officers 'put themselves in harm's way

Blair said the arrest could not have happened without the dedication of young female police officers who went undercover.

"We had women in our organization who put themselves in harm's way, who went out in that community and put themselves at risk, knowing that if they were successful in their mission, they could also be the victim of an assault," said Blair.

The accused is due to appear in court on Monday. Blair said the investigation remains open and encouraged anyone with information about the assaults to contact police.

Assaults prompt rally

Three almost identical assaults occurred over the Thanksgiving weekend. They were reported on Grace Street near Bloor Street West and two within five minutes on Montrose Avenue near College Street.

At the time, police could not confirm whether the Thanksgiving weekend attacks were connected to a series of similar assaults dating back to the summer. In total, 13 such assaults have been reported.

The attacks prompted hundreds of people to take part in September rally to symbolically take back the area around Christie Pits Park.

"After the initial shock of some of the assaults, what's happened is it's actually really galvanized the community," local Coun. Mike Layton said on CBC's Metro Morning on Monday.

"Immediately following the first round of announcements of them, it brought people out onto the street and people taking back the street, and [had them] saying, 'You know what? We're not going to have this in our community.'"

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...x-assaults.html

[Growled Member]

Blair said the arrest could not have happened without the dedication of young female police officers who went undercover.

"We had women in our organization who put themselves in harm's way, who went out in that community and put themselves at risk, knowing that if they were successful in their mission, they could also be the victim of an assault," said Blair.

Kudos to them. Glad they finally caught the guy.

[moloko]

yeah glad they were able to catch this kid.

[+Warwagon MVC]

What a little horn dog. ... when I first read the title I thought it said "15-year old charged in spate of Tornado sax assaults"

[Asrokhel]

What a little horn dog. ... when I first read the title I thought it said "15-year old charged in spate of Tornado sax assaults"

Well, you are from the midwest, so we forgive you for misreading our city's name, because you have tornadoes on the brain. :p

[Original Poster]

so what... did he just run up and slap their ass or what? cause that counts as sexual assault... obviously he didnt rape them or it would have been said? I want to know what he actually did cause this is a curious situation ...

[Asrokhel]

He was grabbing their breasts from behind, from what I remember reading.

[DocM]

Sex offenders do 2 things -

1) re-offend

2) escalate

Cage him now and save future victims the misery of participating in his fantasies.

[Southern Patriot]

so what... did he just run up and slap their ass or what? cause that counts as sexual assault... obviously he didnt rape them or it would have been said? I want to know what he actually did cause this is a curious situation ...

It depends on the jurisdiction, but in many places, rape doesn't have a separate legal term from sexual assault.

[Growled Member]

He was grabbing their breasts from behind, from what I remember reading.

I was thinking he had done a violent crime like rape them or something. Not that grabbing them isn't bad because it is.