Vancouver police hunt sex attacker targeting elderly Asians
Serial molester has struck at least three times; his victims include women in their 80s and 90s
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 08 October, 2014, 10:40pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 08 October, 2014, 10:40pm
Ian Young in Vancouver [email protected]
A CCTV image of the suspect released after the first attack.
Police in Vancouver are hunting a serial sex attacker who targets elderly Asian women in the city's wealthy Westside neighbourhoods, with one of his victims aged in her 90s.
The Vancouver Police Department issued an alert this week for women to be on guard while walking in the neighbourhoods of South Granville, Oak and Cambie. All have high concentrations of ethnic Chinese residents.
Three assaults, all on Asian women, have been linked to the same attacker. The man approached each woman from behind as they were out walking between 7am and 8am, before attacking and sexually molesting them.
The incidents began on April 20, when a woman aged 85 was attacked. Police said that after the assault, the man walked off and the woman rushed home - but the man reappeared and molested her again before her screams drove him off.
The second attack took place on June 17, when a woman in her 90s was out walking her dog in South Granville/Shaughnessy, one of the city's wealthiest suburbs. The attacker sneaked up from behind and "struck her violently between the legs" and groped her, police said
Police believe the attacker's behaviour is escalating. The most recent and most violent attack occurred on Friday, when a 55-year-old woman was attacked on West 64th Avenue. When the attacker walked away, the woman pursued the man, who punched her in the face. "None of the three women knew their attacker and they have all suffered significant emotional distress in the attacks," said police.
Asked if the ethnicity of the women was significant, Sergeant Randy Fincham said on Monday: "We feel that all three of them are connected by motive. The first woman was an Asian woman in her 80s. The second victim was an Asian woman in her 90s, and the most recent victim was an Asian woman in her 50s."
He said the ethnicity of the women, their ages, and the descriptions of the attacker led them to believe it was the same attacker. Fincham said that it wasn't until the third victim came forward that officers were able to "connect the dots".
Police said the attacker was described as white, 35 to 40 years old, 1.78m tall, with a medium build. A CCTV image of a suspect was released after the first attack.
"The violence has escalated …the previous women were not physically harmed in the same way as this latest attack," said Fincher, who described the level of violence used as "extremely alarming".
He said the most recent victim had been left "severely traumatised" by the attack.
Fincham said police patrols in the area had been increased.
He said the incidents were not being regarded as hate crimes, but as sexually motivated, and the sex crimes unit was conducting the investigation.
