Vancouver Police are searching for a man who allegedly lured a six-year-old girl from a playground and sexually assaulted her before walking her back to school.
Police are appealing to the public for dash-cam footage and other surveillance video in hopes of identifying a suspect after the child came forward with the allegations.
“We don’t have any reason to believe that this did not occur,” Const. Jason Doucette said at a Wednesday press conference. “This is a vulnerable member of society. It’s a six-year-old child. We need to solve this.”
Police said the incident occurred on Dec. 5 at Sexsmith Elementary School in Vancouver’s south end. The child was allegedly lured by a man from the school’s playground and taken to a nearby location, where she was sexually assaulted.
Police would not say how the child was lured, and it’s unclear what time the incident happened. Investigators are asking for dash-cam footage from anyone who drove in the area within a six-hour window between 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
Doucette said police are “still trying to work out the specifics” of the timeline
“We’re going to narrow down the timeline. That will be important. But right now, at this time, we’re focusing on her wellbeing and identifying those responsible,” he said.
“We have to be very sensitive in dealing with the memory of a six-year-old child. We want to get reliable, accurate information in the least traumatic manner that will affect this child.”
Police described the suspect as a "darker-skinned man, approximately 30-years-old, with brown or grey hair." He was also wearing grey pants, police said.
“There is no reason to believe that the victim and the suspect knew each other,” Doucette said.
Asked how the little girl is doing, Doucette said she’s safe and receiving support from her family.
Police are comparing the incident to similar incidents in the past, police said.
“We haven’t stopped digging into the past. We’re also liaising with our partner agencies. Our goal here is to identify this person and hold them accountable.”
Police want footage from anyone who drove in the area of West 58th Avenue along the north, West 60th Avenue at the south, Ontario Street to the east, and Cambie Street at the west.
“You may be sitting on information that you don’t particularly know is important, but it could be very important for our investigation,” Doucette said.
