WATCH ABOVE: Chris Harrison captured cellphone video of a man committing an indecent act at a plaza in Ajax Friday afternoon. Another suspicious incident was also reported near a daycare a short distance away. Lama Nicolas reports.
UPDATE (Aug. 19): The man caught on video committing the indecent act has turned himself in.
TORONTO — Parents in Ajax, Ont. are on high alert after an elderly man was allegedly seen masturbating in an area highly populated by children, followed by a similar case of a man taking photos of children at a splash pad nearby.
Chris Harrison said he was walking his dog Friday at a plaza near Harwood Avenue and Bayly Street at about 4:30 p.m., when he noticed a man in a vehicle touching himself while allegedly watching a group of children.
He then decided to film the man during the indecent act, in an attempt to put a stop to it.
“The camp kids were on the corner here … they’re sitting there having their snacks and drinking their water and I caught him on camera. He actually tried to stop me and pay me to not say anything and I just kept walking,” Harrison said.
“He went into to shock and he was like, ‘Come here, come back here, I’ll pay you to not say anything,’ and I just kept walking. I just said, ‘Hey brother that’s not cool, that’s disgusting.'”
Harrison said his friend Brandon Shackleton then posted the graphic video online.
“I just moved to the area so I was quite disgusted that it’s that close to home and I figured you know people have to see it,” Shackleton said.
“If you don’t catch people in the act, a lot of the time they get a slap on the wrist and it goes away or it doesn’t even get any attention paid and I think it’s something that as hard as it is to watch it’s something that we need to see.”
WATCH: Chris Harrison took this cellphone video of what he says is a man allegedly committing an indecent act while watching children in Ajax.
Harrison said the video has been getting mixed reactions from people online, but he stands by the decision to post it.
“I need people to know what’s going on and what kind of sick people we have in this world. I have a child of my own and I want people to know what kind of people are out there and to keep a look out for a guy like this. Because if he can do it in a public area he can do it anywhere.”
Lorena Sanchez said she went through a similar experience while with her child on Monday afternoon, when she spotted an elderly man wearing a baseball cap while on a bicycle near a splash pad at 55 Ashbury Blvd. S in Ajax.
She said about 20 children were playing in the area, when the man stopped his bike and began watching them in a suspicious way.
“I thought that that was an odd place to rest, right next to a group of kids that were being noisy and splashing water all over,” said Sanchez.
“I didn’t pay much attention to him, I just found it odd. And this morning I just got the message about an old man on a bike taking pictures of the kids from daycare the same day and I just assumed it was the same person.”
Another parent who wished to remain anonymous said they saw the man take out a camera and take pictures of a nearby daycare with a camera and telephoto lens.
Sanchez said she and her friends with children in the area are more careful than they were before.
“They don’t feel like it’s a safe place to let the kids go on their bikes or be playing on the street with their friends by themselves because you never know what’s going to happen now,” she said.
“If somebody sees something they should actually approach him and say something to him and maybe call the police right away.”
Durham Regional Police told Global News they’re not officially commenting on the incidents and whether they’re related, but said they’re looking into both incidents and waiting to speak with Harrison.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Durham Regional Police. Anonymous information can also be sent to Durham Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), or online at http://www.durhamregionalcrimestoppers.ca, and tipsters may be eligible for a $2,000 cash reward.
With files from Lama Nicolas
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