WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg Police Service has released the description of a man wanted in a “disturbing” incident at St. Vital Centre.
The Sex Crimes Unit is investigating after a mother contacted police to share her daughter’s unsettling story Sunday.
WATCH: Winnipeg Police outline timeline of incident at St. Vital Centre
The mother, who asked not to be identified, first shared the story on Facebook.
She said her 14-year-old daughter and her friends were at the mall when they noticed a man who seemed to be following them with what appeared to be paper towel wrapped around a “shiny cylinder-type object.”
READ MORE: Winnipeg police sex crimes unit investigating disturbing incident at St. Vital Centre
The girls ducked into a store to attempt to wait him out. He sat across from them and watched.
“At that point my daughter reached up to scratch her back and she felt her back was covered in some sort of sticky wet liquid,” the mother said. “So she took off her sweater and her and her friends looked at it and it was covered in a sticky white substance, which was now all over her hands.”
WATCH: Police say girls did all the right things in St. Vital Centre incident
The mother suspects the substance was semen and police said that is likely.
“There’s info to support that it may be a bodily fluid, absolutely,” said Winnipeg Police Constable Jason Michalyshen. “Clothing has been seized and DNA testing is pending.”
Police say the testing results could take months.
“To call this anything less than disturbing is fair to say,” Michalyshen said. “It’s uncomfortable to talk about. But we have to talk about the uncomfortable things.”
While this is a bizarre incident, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (CCCP) said anytime a child or teenager feels unsafe they need to speak up.
“We often hear, especially with kids, they aren’t sure if it’s serious enough,” said Noni Classen, the education director with the CCCP. “It doesn’t have to be extreme for them to acknowledge they need help.”
Classen also reiterated that parents need to have these conversations continually and make sure their kids know to ask for help.
“It’s about letting an adult within the facility know what is going on, ” she said. “Also, talking about the anomaly, the rareness of the situation. Remind them of all of the times they have gone to places, that people are generally safe, but, sometimes people can do something to make you feel uncomfortable.”
Police are looking for a Caucasian man in his 40s to 50s, approximately 5’7” – 5’8” tall, with a heavy build and a wrinkled, weathered-looking face. Police say he was wearing a blue felt hat and a blue plaid jacket.
“There needs to be a level of concern,” Michalyshen said. “We have to talk about the uncomfortable things and we have to have this conversation with young people if they’re approached this way.”
Police are working on obtaining and reviewing the surveillance tape but aren’t sharing it with the public at this time.
If anyone has any information they can contact Crime Stoppers at 204-786-Tips (8477) or Police at 204-986-6245.