Charges laid after 2 separate cases of man following school-aged girls: London, Ont. police

Police in London, Ont., have laid harassment charges against a man after two separate incidents involving school-aged girls being watched and followed.

Police believe there may be additional victims and ask anyone who had “similar dealings with the accused or the involved red Mitsubishi SUV” to contact them.

The first reported incident occurred the afternoon of June 16 when police were called about a suspicious person in a red Mitsubishi SUV watching and following a girl while she bicycled through the neighbourhood in the area of Southcrest Drive and Base Line Road West.

Police were given a description of the man and the vehicle but were unable to locate it. The major crime section then took over the investigation.

Days later, at around 8 p.m. on June 20, police learned a man matching the description and also in a red Mitsubishi SUV was driving in the area of Andover Drive and Viscount Road. According to police, the suspect was “reportedly watching and following a second school-aged girl riding a scooter earlier in the evening.”

The following day, police arrested a 48-year-old man in the area of Highview Avenue East and Wharncliffe Road South. He’s charged with two counts of criminal harassment “by watching and besetting” and two counts of breach of probation.

According to the Department of Justice Canada, besetting means “conduct by someone that causes another person to feel hemmed in or a person to feel surrounded, for a person to feel attacked on all sides.”