Kingston Police detectives are wanting to speak to two male witnesses who heard and responded to a cry for assistance from a female victim in relation to a sexual assault in progress shortly after New Year’s Eve.
At approximately 2:50 a.m. on Sunday, January 1, 2017 the victim had just left a licensed establishment named “The Spot Nightclub” with a man she had just met that evening. The bar is located in the area of Division Street and Princess Street.
While in the covered walkway that also contains the nearby Burger King drive-thru the male suspect began to sexually assault the victim. She resisted and screamed for help, which a group of men heard and responded to. This caused the suspect to flee from the area.
Two men from this group then assisted the woman into Burger King, where staff was alerted to what just occurred, and a Kingston Police officer responding to another matter was notified.
These two men, who are witnesses to the event and could have valuable first-hand information, did not stay at the scene and were not identified by police. The victim was assessed and taken to hospital as a precaution and to collect potential evidence through Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence (SADV) nursing staff.
The victim was able to provide a detailed description of the suspect, who had also given her some personal information about himself when they first met inside the nightclub. This information was distributed amongst uniform patrol and as a result a male matching the descriptors was observed by an officer leaving a taxi to attend the front lobby of a Queen Mary Road apartment building at approximately 3:45 a.m. Having reasonable grounds the 20-year-old local man was arrested for sexual assault. He was transported to police headquarters, lodged in cells and was later remanded into custody following a bail hearing.
While an arrest has been made, detectives in the Sexual Crimes Unit want to obtain as much evidence as possible, and feel the two male witnesses could greatly assist in this matter by providing statements. They are asked to please contact Detective Brenda Lavigne at 613-549-4660 ext 6270 or via email at blavigne@kpf.ca.
Anonymous tips can be made to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or on the website at www.tipsubmit.com. Tipsters are eligible for a cash reward of up to $2,000. Tips can also be left through the Kingston Police MyPD app that can be downloaded at www.kpf.ca, by private message to the Kingston Police Facebook Page, or via a Direct Message to the official Twitter account. Reference incident RD# 17-131 .
Release source: Kingston Police | Image: Google
