WATCH ABOVE: Calgary police break two-decade-old sexual assault cold case. Nancy Hixt reports on Aug. 21.
CALGARY – Global News learned of an arrest on Friday in a 20-year-old sexual assault cold case made possible by advancements in DNA testing. Calgary Police provided additional details in the case on Monday afternoon.
Charles Desjarlais—known as “Charlie”—was arrested in Lethbridge on Saturday, accused of sexual assault with a weapon against a 16-year-old girl in Calgary that dates back to 1995.
“I would suggest there’s a certain moment of fear when you tell them you are the cold case investigator and I have DNA that links you to the case,” said Det. Ren Lafreniere of the Calgary Police Sex Crimes Unit. “It’s kind of a deer in the headlight look.”
Lafreniere made the arrest on Aug. 15, finally giving peace to a woman who’s looked over her shoulder for 20 years, not knowing who her attacker was.
“You can imagine a 16-year-old—something this horrific happening to you…It changes the course of your life,” said Lafreniere.
On March 23, 1995 the girl was walking home from a northwest Calgary school. She told police she felt like someone was following her.
“He likely was going to attack her in the field, but because there were other people walking in the field, he ran ahead of her towards Centre Street,” said Lafreniere.
The teen kept walking, crossing Centre St. and carrying on into the northeast neighbourhood of Huntington Hills.
Police allege Desjarlais was waiting for her in an alley.
Watch below: Staff Sgt. Bev Voros of the Calgary Police Service Sex Crimes Unit provides additional details in the case on Monday.
Investigators worked to try to identify the rapist with no success at the time.
“Fast forward to 2014, the sex assault exhibits are tested and submitted to the national data bank…and in turn there was a hit to a 2002 previous conviction the accused had,” said Lafreniere.
Desjarlais, 52, has a violent criminal past; he was in and out of jail for most of his life with convictions dating back to his youth. While in jail for sexual interference against a child in 2002, DNA linked him to a 1994 rape when he attacked another stranger in a Calgary park.
If convicted, the latest charge in this cold case could put him behind bars indefinitely should the Crown seek dangerous offender status in sentencing. He is set to appear in court on Aug. 26.
“Those are important things—to let people know we haven’t forgotten about those cases and those offences, and we do everything we can to try to track these people down,” said Lafreniere.
Sgt. Bev Voros said Monday no new victims have come forward with information about Desjarlais.
“We don’t have any information there are any new victims, but if there are that we haven’t heard of, we strongly encourage them to come forward and talk to us,” she said. Anyone with information can call police at the non-emergency line at 403-266-1234.
With files from Erika Tucker
Note: This article was originally published on Friday, Aug. 21, 2015.
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