WATCH ABOVE: Police have made an arrest after a horrifying incident involving a little girl last weekend. Eric Szeto reports.
EDMONTON – A man has been arrested and charged after a child told her mother she was sexually assaulted in a pet store.
A five-year-old girl and her mother were shopping in a pet store in west Edmonton last Saturday. A man allegedly approached the girl while she was away from her mother and led the five-year-old to the men’s washroom where he reportedly sexually assaulted her.
Police were called and didn’t take long for officers to make an arrest. Adrian Ballantyne, 27, was located and arrested a short distance away after a description was given by the complainant and other witnesses.
“This alleged occurrence is particularly unusual and concerning as this sexual assault occurred with a stranger,” said Acting Staff Sgt. David Jones, Edmonton Police Child Protection Section.
Child abuse investigations conducted in 2014 at the Zebra Child Abuse Centre in Edmonton found 98 per cent of suspects were known to their victims.
Ballantyne has been charged with sexual interference, sexual assault and breach of probation.
He was scheduled to speak to bail Friday.
Police believe there could be other young complainants. Ballantyne has been known to travel in Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C.
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