WATCH: A photo and Facebook description of an alleged sexual assault on the Canada Line has police wanting to speak to the victim. John Daly reports.
VANCOUVER – A Facebook photo of an alleged sexual assault on SkyTrain’s Canada Line has gone viral.
The photo was uploaded to the Facebook page UBC Confessions and then shared on Reddit.
A woman is looking for another woman she saw on the SkyTrain Thursday morning. According to the Facebook post, the author saw a man sexually harassing a young woman at 8:20 a.m. on the Richmond-Brighouse to Waterfront SkyTrain line.
“He was feeling and rubbing the back of your right leg and butt with his left hand, moving up and down,” the author writes.
The victim allegedly got on the train at the Landsdowne / Aberdeen station and is an Asian girl, between 18 to 25 years old, with black hair and straight bangs. She was also wearing a gray wool cardigan with a black T-shirt, ripped black jeans, a Gucci backpack, Louis Vuitton wallet and was carrying a pink iPhone 6.
“I saw you moving away from him, I could tell that you were visibly uncomfortable,” the author writes.
She took a picture of the man touching the victim and talked to police after she got off the SkyTrain at Bridgeport. The victim did not get off the train at that time but the author is now looking for the victim to come forward and file a complaint.
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Transit Police say they have identified a suspect and are hoping the victim comes forward and are taking steps to identify her as well. They say if it is safe to take a photo in these situations, do so, as they can be very helpful with investigations.
“There are a lot of suggestions of taking action against the suspect in the Facebook comments,” writes Cst Graham Walker with Transit Police. “In this instance, the author did a great thing by talking to the victim and then pointing out the suspect to police. What we would caution against, is putting yourself at risk. It may be a busy train, but the person is unknown and could take great offence at any intervention.”
The suspect was being looked at for another assault on UBC’s Point Grey campus, but a statement from UBC Public Affairs says “UBC RCMP do not believe there is any connection between the two incidents.”
They say if anyone sees anything like this to text message dispatch at 87-77-77 or call 9-1-1 if someone’s safety is at risk.
The author of the Facebook post hopes to find the victim as well.
“Please don’t ignore this issue, we should not condone his actions,” she writes.
“I know you were scared to speak up, I hope you’re OK.”
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