Police Arrested A 12-Year-Old Boy After 6 Sexual Assault Incidents At Toronto Parks
The incidents took place over a period of four months.
Toronto police car. Right: Gatineau Hydro Corridor Trail.
The Toronto Police Service (TPS) has arrested a 12-year-old boy who was wanted in a "series of sexual assaults" that happened across various walking trails in the city.
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On Thursday, Police informed the public that a boy had been identified and arrested in relation to "sexual assaults carried out on walking trails in the city's east end."
The boy, who cannot be identified due to the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was arrested and charged on Monday, April 17, 2023, with two counts of sexual assault.
At the time of the first five offences, the boy was 11 years old and could not be criminally charged in Canada because of his age.
The "series" of assaults that were reported date back to July of last year. Some occurred at the Gatineau Hydro Corridor Trail and others on the East Don Valley Trail, police said.
TPS reported the following incident summaries in the most recent press release:
- July 7, 2022 — At around 5:50 p.m., a woman was sexually assaulted after she was approached while running on the trail by an "unknown teenage boy [who] blocked her way with his bike."
- July 8, 2022 — A woman was on her bike when a boy followed and stopped her "to show her an '11 fingers TikTok trick," then the boy sexually assaulted the woman
- July 22, 2022 — A 54-year-old woman was on the East Don Valley Trail, between Wynford Drive and Sloane Avenue, she was approached by a male who asked for water, then sexually assaulted her and biked away.
- July 23, 2022 — In the East Don River Trail and Wynford Heights Crescent area, police were called in after a 52-year-old woman was walking along the trail when a teenage boy approached her from the back and sexually assaulted her.
- September 6, 2022 — A woman was sitting on a park bench in the Birchmount Road and St. Clair Avenue East area when a boy on a bike approached her and engaged in conversation. The boy then sexually assaulted the woman and fled on his bike.
- September 6, 2022 — Around three hours after the last incident, another woman was walking on the East Don Trail when a boy approached her from the back while riding a bike and sexually assaulted her.
If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual assault, call the Assaulted Women's Helpline at 1-866-863-0511. You can also contact support services for male survivors of sexual assault at 1-866-887-0015. If you need immediate assistance, please call 911 or go to your nearest hospital. Support is available.