'You don't expect that to come out here': Residents concerned over reported sexual assaults in Brighton neighbourhood
On Wednesday, November 16, Carly Tonkin says she was walking home with her dog through a park in the Brighton neighbourhood when she was approached.
“He asked me if I needed to have service and I thought, because he was a young kid, I thought he was going to need some money for shovelling a driveway or to buy a coat because he was only wearing a sweater, running shoes and sweatpants,” she said.
Instead, Tonkin says he asked her sexually explicit questions until she walked the opposite way.
“I didn't think much of it at the time until my friend told me that evening that she was actually assaulted and touched,” she said.
Saskatoon Police say it’s investigating following separate reports of women being sexually assaulted by a stranger in the area of Dagnone Crescent in recent days.
“The encounters were brief and, fortunately, the victims were able to escape the assault by their own actions,” police said in a statement to CTV News.
“In the interest of public safety but with respect to the victims' privacy, we can offer that the sexual assaults involved a combination of physical, verbal, and exposure-related advancements towards the victim.”
Tonkin says she and her family moved to Brighton from Toronto in July because it looked like a good neighbourhood to raise a family.
“It's a quiet, family-friendly neighbourhood. You don't expect that to come out here,” she said.
Executive director of the Saskatoon Sexual Assault and Information Centre Reagan Conway says it’s a reminder that sexual violence can happen anywhere at any time.
“I think for most people there is a belief that you're safe in your own home, you're safe in your own community, but we know that assaults can happen anywhere,” she said.
Conway says sexual assault is an all-encompassing term, including sexual abuse and sexual harassment. She says it doesn’t have to involve sexual violence and can include emotional and psychological harm.
“As a society, we have to do a little bit better so that we're not telling victims or survivors that they have to protect themselves, but that we need to figure out why these violent crimes are happening in the first place and stop them beforehand,” she said.
“[So] Stopping it before it occurs, offering education. Having a good understanding about what sexualized violence is, supporting it when it happens, and support of survivors of sexualized violence that then might perpetuate themselves.”
Saskatoon Police say the suspect is described as being between 15 and 25 years old, 5’9” to 6’0” in height and approximately 180 pounds with a slim build.
In two separate instances, he was seen wearing a neon purple shirt and neon yellow jacket, before later being seen by the same victim wearing all black with a hood pulled tightly around his face.
SPS says members of the public are asked to remain watchful of people around them, to look out for one another, and contact them or Crime Stoppers with relevant information.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
'It was joy': Trapped B.C. orca calf eats seal meat, putting rescue on hold
A rescue operation for an orca calf trapped in a remote tidal lagoon off Vancouver Island has been put on hold after it started eating seal meat thrown in the water for what is believed to be the first time.
Man sets self on fire outside New York court where Trump trial underway
A man set himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
Sask. father found guilty of withholding daughter to prevent her from getting COVID-19 vaccine
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
B.C. judge orders shared dog custody for exes who both 'clearly love Stella'
In a first-of-its-kind ruling, a B.C. judge has awarded a former couple joint custody of their dog.
Saskatoon police to search landfill for remains of woman missing since 2020
Saskatoon police say they will begin searching the city’s landfill for the remains of Mackenzie Lee Trottier, who has been missing for more than three years.
Shivering for health: The myths and truths of ice baths explained
In a climate of social media-endorsed wellness rituals, plunging into cold water has promised to aid muscle recovery, enhance mental health and support immune system function. But the evidence of such benefits sits on thin ice, according to researchers.