Two more sex offences reported in Saanich
VICTORIA — Saanich police believe the man involved in a string of indecent acts and sexual assaults has struck again with two incidents in Mount Douglas Park.
A man followed a woman into a public washroom in the parking lot at Mount Douglas Beach about 5 p.m. Monday and entered the stall next to her. He was later seen masturbating outside.
A short time later, a woman walking on a path in the park was touched on the buttocks.
“We’re concerned because the behaviour continues and also because, in the recent incident, the male actually physically followed the female into the washroom,” Saanich police Staff Sgt. Chris Horsley said. “Obviously, we’re concerned if it’s out in the public in a park, but when the person is actually now in a confined area like that washroom, the propensity for violence is always present.
“The person could be surprised and try to flee the scene; there could be a confrontation of some sort.”
Saanich police issued a warning last week after five incidents were reported July 4-7 in a small geographical area of Gordon Head.
The first two involved a man on a skateboard. In the other instances, the man was on a bicycle and, in two of the cases, a woman was touched in a sexual manner.
All the incidents happened in the late afternoon or early evening, with the suspect described as 20 to 30 years of age and white with a darker complexion. He was said to be wearing a baseball cap, bandana or green bike helmet.
Since last week, two more people have come forward to report incidents.
A woman said she was harassed by a man on a bicycle July 10.
Another woman reported seeing a man coming out of the bushes in Mount Douglas Park with his pants undone on July 13.
Horsley said a Saanich police crime analyst has determined some previous cases might also be connected. Those include a June 13 incident in which a man was seen masturbating in Mount Douglas Park and a June 27 incident in which a man grabbed a woman’s buttocks near Quadra Street and Tattersall Drive.
All told, there are 11 cases that could involve the current suspect, police said.
Investigators have not ruled out a connection to a July 11 incident in Langford in which a woman was slapped on the buttocks.
Saanich police ask anyone with information to call 250-475-4321.