A Winnipeg man is facing sexual assault charges after a string of incidents around the city.
Nine women were assaulted in eight incidents, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release Tuesday. All but one of the assaults happened in late September, and the WPS sex crimes unit began an investigation this fall.
In each incident, a man approached a woman from behind. The suspect did not know the victims.
The first assault, at about 8:30 p.m. on June 2, involved a 19-year-old victim in a retail store on the 1600 block of Kenaston Boulevard. That was the lone incident this summer.
The second incident involved a 41-year-old victim in the first 100 hundred block of Balmoral Street at about 6 p.m. on Sept. 25. Twenty-five minutes later, a 35-year-old victim was assaulted on the same block.
The next night, at 9:52 p.m., a 31-year-old victim was assaulted in the area of Ellice Avenue and Hargrave Street.
A 37-year-old victim was assaulted on the first 100 hundred block of Edmonton Street at 7:32 on Sept. 27. Shortly after, between about 7:45 p.m. and 8 p.m., a 36-year-old victim was assaulted near the area of Corydon Avenue and Nassau Street North.
The final incident, involving two 24-year-old women who know each other, happened in the area of Granite Way and Osborne Street at 10:34 p.m. on Sept. 28.
Investigators, with help from Grand Rapids RCMP, identified a suspect and arrested a 27-year-old man at a home on the 500 block of Sterling Lyon Parkway on Sunday.
Police did not release his name because he was released on an undertaking.
In a public advisory on Oct. 1, police mentioned four of the eight incidents and another that happened at Main Street and Assiniboine Avenue at about 7 p.m. on Sept. 25. The status of the investigation into that sexual assault was not clear Tuesday, but the man arrested has not been charged in that case.
The WPS said on Oct. 1 that the incidents involved women “being groped from behind by an unknown male who then runs away,” released a description of the suspect and said detectives were working to obtain a clear security image of the man.
The sex crimes unit asked anyone with information regarding the incidents to contact investigators at 204-986-6245, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477 (TIPS) or online.
adam.treusch@freepress.mb.ca