The Sun was able to speak with two of the three alleged victims. They wish to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals from their attacker.
Florence* has difficulty explaining why she was targeted on December 17.
Around 12:40 p.m., the 16-year-old girl was walking back from the grocery store on 9th Street. Between 1st and 2nd avenues, she felt someone grab her from behind and grab her inner thighs. “He tried to exert force. He put his chest on my back,” she remembers.
The suspect then allegedly pulled her towards a nearby alley. “I started screaming, struggling. All my groceries fell on the floor.”
Moments later, the man suddenly stopped touching her. He “ran” towards the alley.
Florence did not see the face of her assailant. According to her, he was approximately 5 feet 7 inches tall, with dark skin and curly brown hair.
Insecurity
When she arrived home, she told her mother about her experience and then filed a police report. The file is currently being investigated by the SPVQ.
Florence's mother is worried about her daughter who she believes may have been sexually assaulted. “I always told my daughters: it’s never the skirt that’s the problem, it’s the asshole.”
The Limoilou resident has never felt in danger on the streets of her neighborhood, particularly because there is a lot of traffic. This event makes her doubt.
“All we want is to be able to be safe when we walk down the street. It's worrying to think that you're not safe anywhere. For what ? Because we are a woman?” denounces the mother.
A second victim
On December 18, Camille* was walking on Boulevard Benoit-XV, near 14th Street. She had just gotten off the bus to return home when she was grabbed by a man.
The suspect allegedly grabbed her genitals with both hands before throwing her to the ground. “I really felt his fingers take my private parts,” she told the Soleil.
Camille remembers screaming at the top of her lungs. “I started struggling, kicking him.”
The man finally left her on the ground before fleeing. “I have no idea why he attacked me. I was truly a victim in the wrong place, at the wrong time,” she laments.
In the heat of the moment, the young woman did not have time to see her attacker's face, but she remembers his curly hair.
“What if I had been in a skirt?”
Camille says she is “traumatized” since the events.
“I count myself lucky because, in the end, I was not physically injured. But I say to myself: will he go further next time with someone else? And if I had been in a skirt, would it have been worse? I’m afraid for young women.”
— Camille, alleged victim
The Limoilou resident also contacted the police after her attack. Two police officers came to meet him. “They told me that since I didn’t have a precise description, it was going to be hard to find him,” she said.
Camille therefore did not file a written complaint at that time. If the suspect is located, she is ready to write a statement, as suggested by the officers she met.
Another case?
These two attacks were reported on a Facebook group bringing together residents of Limoilou.
Another publication reports a third similar event. It would have occurred on December 20 on 2nd avenue, near the circus school.
This alleged victim also describes being grabbed from behind when she was walking. When she turned around, she allegedly saw a man “squatting” who appeared to be taking a photo of her buttocks while restraining her.
This woman reportedly filed a complaint with the Quebec police. If the suspect is found, he could face charges of voyeurism and mischief.
Contacted by The Sun, the SPVQ confirms having received complaints concerning attacks in Limoilou. However, he refuses to disclose the exact number so as not to harm investigations. No link is confirmed between the different allegations at this stage.
“The SPVQ analyzes any type of file that could be similar,” says Pierre-Olivier Lévesque, spokesperson for the SPVQ. “We invite anyone who is the victim of sexual assault to file a complaint. This is a reprehensible criminal act.”
*Fictitious first names
