BURNABY – A Surrey man is in custody for allegedly sexually assaulting, confining and in some cases beating four sex trade workers from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, but police say there may be more victims.
Forty-three-year-old Shalendra Kumar Sharma has been charged with four counts of sexually assaulting four different women over the span of 17 years, from 1994 to last year.
Police say Sharma targeted women “in the high risk category.”
The two most recent incidents took place last December.
On December 4, 2011 a woman was taken to a location in south Burnaby from Downtown Eastside. It was alleged the woman was sexually assaulted and robbed.
A second assault believed to be linked to the first incident took place in south Burnaby on December 18.
The other two alleged offenses took place in 1994 and 1997.
“We are reviewing all of the files, and we believe we’ve located potential victims from 1994,” said Chief Superintendent Dave Critchley. “There are several women that we believe may have been assaulted and we are continuing our investigation.”
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Critchley did not reveal the extent of the injuries that the women sustained in the assaults, but said they were significant in a sense that he was immediately briefed on the incidents, and it became the top priority for investigators.
Sharma is also charged with four counts of confinement, and one count of kidnapping. In the two incidents from 2011, Sharma is also charged with two counts of assault, and one count of uttering threats.
The suspect is facing 12 charges in total.
Sharma was not known to police prior to the investigation. His photo or description have not been released to protect the integrity of the investigation.
The investigation team, which includes the Burnaby RCMP and the Vancouver Police Department, alleges Sharma is not linked to any missing women cases on the Downtown Eastside or serial killer Robert Pickton who preyed on sex trade workers from the area in the same time period.
Critchley says he expects to be judged in light of intense police scrutiny that came after the Pickton investigation.
“We’ve learned from the past. And the key is sharing of information between jurisdictions, between departments and agencies in a prompt and timely fashion right away. That is what’s occurred on this file. As soon as we had the occurrence in December, we passed the information on. And the key is information has been acted upon.”
Police suspect there may be more victims, and are asking any witnesses to come forward. Over fifty investigators are working on the file right now.
They say Sharma was associated with four vehicles:
• 2007 red Ford Escape (between October 2006 and present)
• 2003 blue Ford Explorer (between January 2004 and February 2010)
• 1997 red Ford Explorer (between March 1999 and October 2006)
• 1991 red Pontiac Sunbird (between January 1994 and May 1997)
Anyone who feels they may have been victimized by someone driving these vehicles is urged to contact their police jurisdictions or Crimestoppers.
Sharma is due back in court next month.
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