Police are now saying that an assault reported near Bear Creek High School last week was a violent sexual assault in a wooded area.
“It’s concerning that it did happen close to a school,” said Const. Sarah Bamford. “But it’s concerning that it’s happening in our community. We want to get the person who’s responsible for this, and we’re appealing to the public to help us in any way they can.”
Barrie Police launched a dedicated tip line, and they released a composite sketch of the suspect on Thursday.
Police say the assault happened just before 3 p.m. on Friday near Bear Creek Secondary School between Red Oak Drive and Farmstead Crescent.
Officers responded to the call and found the female victim with what police describe as serious, but non-life-threatening injuries. She was taken to a local hospital.
Police say they searched the area where the alleged assault is believed to have happened but they were unable to find the suspect.
Bear Creek's school principal sent a letter home to parents on Monday morning describing the incident and suspect. The letter also asked students and parents to be extra vigilant and use “main routes that are well-travelled, rather than taking shortcuts through deserted areas.”
“It’s every parent’s fear,” said Barrie resident Steve Pieroway. “When you really think about it, we have to be really cautious about when we let our kids out, and where we let them go. Even around the school, it’s dangerous, it’s ridiculous.”
Investigators hope that by releasing a composite sketch of the suspect, someone will be able to identify him.
The accused is described as being a white man, 40-years-old, with a thin, hollow face and a medium build. He has a beard and was last seen wearing a dark-coloured plaid shirt, dark cargo pants, and a blue beanie-style hat.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers to leave an anonymous tip.
The dedicated tip line can be reached at 705-725-7025 ext. 2935.
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WARNING DISTURBING CONTENT
A 34-year-old man who admitted to sexual offences against five boys has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
Justin Coulombe entered guilty pleas earlier this month on criminal charges related to five victims, including two counts of invitation to sexual touching, two counts of sexual interference and three child pornography charges.
On Thursday in Edmonton Court of Queen's Bench, Coulombe received a seven-year prison sentence.
"These are very, very disturbing allegations," Justice Paul Belzil told court, referring to a four-page agreed statement of facts.
Previous media stories indicated Coulombe posed as a Catholic clergyman, but that was not how he lured his targets.
According to the agreed statement of facts, Coulombe met his first victim, identified as T.F., in the summer of 2008 when the boy was 12 years old.
T.F. met Coulombe at a store in an Edmonton mall that catered to fans of role-playing board games.
Coulombe offered T.F. "advantages in the games they were playing" if the boy would show him his penis, according to the agreed statement of facts. The pair went to a vacant store in the mall where T.F. exposed himself.
Coulombe met his second victim the same way. Sometime between 2012 and 2013, 12-year-old E.P. showed Coulombe his penis on two occasions. Another time, Coulombe directed E.P. to show his penis under a gaming table and the boy agreed.
During that same time period, Coulombe met and exploited a third 12-year-old boy. Sometimes C.P. went to Coulombe's home to play games. Coulombe admitted that he twice pulled down the boy's pants and stroked the boy's penis.
"C.P. wanted to leave, but being a young child he did not know what to do," the court document states.
Coulombe met a 16-year-old boy at the end of 2016. The boy was a friend of one of his other victims.
L.P. visited Coulombe's house several times to play video games. The teenager needed a new cell phone. Coulombe bought one for him, but then made L.P. feel indebted. He manipulated L.P. into sending him explicit pictures and videos.
Police later found pictures and videos on Coulombe's electronic devices. They qualified as child pornography, according to the agreed statement of facts.
Mother says son has PTSD
Coulombe's fifth victim was 12 when he began to communicate with the older man on Facebook. Their involvement began in 2015 and lasted until 2017. A.P. sent Coulombe 11 intimate pictures. According to the agreed statement of facts, Coulombe performed oral sex on the boy three times and once simulated anal intercourse.
A.P.'s mother submitted a victim impact statement to the court.
She wrote that her son "has trouble with nightmares, is constantly very secretive, lies, steals, does drugs and is very moody ... more than he ever was. His relationships with his family [are] very turbulent."
She said a psychiatrist has diagnosed her son with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The mother also said she feels guilty for not protecting her son.
"My son's childhood was taken from him and I don't know if he will ever be the same," she wrote.
Child pornography
Coulombe admitted that between 2011 and 2017 he accumulated a large collection of child pornography and shared his photos and videos with others through internet chat rooms.
The court document reveals police found 25,677 child pornography images on his six electronic devices. Many were duplicated and stored in different locations on hard drives. The total number of distinct images was 8,490.
Police also found 4,219 videos of recorded child sexual exploitation. Accounting for duplication, there were 2,948 distinct videos.
Joint sentencing submission
Crown prosecutor Craig Krieger and defence lawyer Dushan Coulson jointly recommended a seven-year prison sentence to the judge.
Belzil agreed to the proposed sentence, noting it was significant that Coulombe's victims had been spared from the trauma of testifying. But he worried about the long-term psychological impact Coulombe's abuse will have on his victims.
"I only hope that all of these complainants, over time, will be able to move on with the appropriate assistance and move on to lead healthy lives in the future," Belzil said.
Coulombe will be placed on the sex offender registry for life and has a lifetime ban on using the internet and being around anyone under the age of 16.
Coulombe was offered the chance to say something to the judge, but declined.
He has been in custody since July 2017 and will get enhanced credit for time served, leaving just over five years remaining on the seven-year sentence.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/justin-coulombe-sentence-sex-offences-1.4907716?cmp=rss&fbclid=Iw... ... See MoreSee Less
A Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer is appealing a top-court decision in Newfoundland and Labrador to the top court in the country, to prevent a retrial on a charge of sexual assault.
Last year, a jury acquitted Carl Douglas Snelgrove. The Crown appealed.
In a 2-1 decision issued last month, the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal found that the trial judge erred in law in her instructions to the jury.
The appeal court ordered a new trial.
But Snelgrove filed a notice of appeal with the Supreme Court of Canada two weeks ago, seeking to overturn that decision.
Snelgrove's lawyer, Randy Piercey, declined comment when contacted by CBC News.
Public Prosecutions also declined comment at this time.
The RNC confirmed that Snelgrove remains suspended without pay.
Officer was on-duty at time of incident
Snelgrove's acquittal last year sparked controversy.
The sexual assault charge related to an incident that occurred just before Christmas of 2014.
A woman in her early 20s testified that she went alone to find a taxi at 2:30 a.m. because she was too drunk to remain at a St. John's bar.
Snelgrove, an on-duty RNC officer, testified that she came to his marked police car and asked him for a ride home.
Once there, Snelgrove testified that the woman initiated sexual activity. He said it was consensual.
The woman was unable to recall much of what happened after she let Snelgrove into the apartment, testifying that she was "too drunk to kind of stand up."
The case largely revolved around the issue of consent.
In ordering a new trial, Court of Appeal Justice Gale Welsh wrote that "the trial judge erred in law in her interpretation and application" of the section of the Criminal Code that deals with the meaning of consent, in how she instructed the jury.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/rnc-officer-doug-snelgrove-supreme-court-of-canada-a... ... See MoreSee Less
Sem Paul Obed, 47, has history of violence
A man with a long history of violence who is accused of a sexual assault in central Halifax this past summer will go to trial in January 2020.
Sem Paul Obed, 47, was arrested and charged after a man broke into a residence on Cunard Street and sexually assaulted a woman there on June 1.
Obed is charged with aggravated sexual assault, choking to overcome resistance, uttering threats, breaking and entering, and two counts of breaching court orders.
Obed is considered a high-risk offender with a history of violent attacks. He's been in jail since his arrest just hours after the alleged incident.
He appeared by videolink in Nova Scotia Supreme Court Thursday morning to set dates for his trial. It will begin Jan. 27, 2020, and run for 15 days.
Because of his past history and the high-profile nature of the case, prospective jurors will be questioned about their views on both the case and the accused.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/man-charged-with-break-in-and-sexual-assault-to-be-tried-in-20... ... See MoreSee Less
A former high school teacher in Hawkesbury, Ont., has been charged with sexual assault after allegations of abuse dating back to the early 1980s surfaced.
Hawkesbury OPP arrested 79-year-old Adrien Asselin on Wednesday as part of an investigation that started in April, when police heard the first complaint.
Asselin has been charged with sexual assault as well as indecent assault and gross indecency, charges under the Criminal Code at the time of the alleged abuse.
Police said Asselin was teaching high school in Hawkesbury at the time. He's expected back in court on Thursday.
Asselin is also a multimedia artist whose works have been shown across Canada, the United States and Italy.
OPP are asking anyone who may have information about the case to call them at 1-888-310-1122.
They're also reminding anyone who has experienced sexual assault and needs support can contact Victim Services of Prescott-Russell at 1-877-632-7530 or send them an email.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/adrien-asselin-hawkesbury-charge-1.4906981 ... See MoreSee Less
A statement of claim has been filed with the Nova Scotia Supreme Court alleging frequent abuse against former students of residential schools in Halifax and Amherst.
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