High Park residents on high alert for alleged sexual predator

Residents of High Park and Bloor West Village are keeping a lookout for a man who has allegedly been exposing himself in front of women at night for possibly the past few months.

Laila Grants, 25, said she experienced two instances where the man exposed his genitals to her and her friend along Armadale Avenue, near Jane Street and Bloor Street West.

“The first time it happened, it was in August,” said Grants.

“I was just walking home from work with my friend and at first we just thought it was a prank that there’s a guy naked.”

Grants said the most recent incident happened on Oct. 19, when she was walking home with the same friend.

In both incidents, the man was driving a “red car with squeaky axles,” and approached them between midnight and 2 a.m., according to Grants.

2:11 Concerns about sexual predator in High Park area

She added that he drove past them while looking at them. He then turned around and drove into a side-street and parked his car, Grants said.

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“He got out and pretended he was jogging. Then, he went behind a car and stripped down naked,” said Grants. She alleged he then committed an indecent act in front of them.

“It was very disturbing since it’s a family-friendly neighbourhood.”

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After the second incident, Grants said she posted her encounters to a couple of High Park community groups on Facebook to see if anyone else had had the same experience.

She found multiple people had run into a man behaving the same way, with some incidents dating back to two years ago.

“It also happened to minors, like two 15-year-olds,” adds Grants, who said a woman in one of the Facebook groups told her about the teenagers’ encounter.

Grants said many Facebook users also told them about similar instances in different parts of the city’s west end outside of High Park.

“I thought if I spread awareness now, maybe a few other people would contact police as well and maybe we can get this guy off the street,” said Grants.

The Toronto Police Service told Global News that they don’t currently have an official file on the incidents as of late Thursday afternoon because nobody had filed a formal complaint.

Police encouraged people who encounter incidents like the ones described to not just post about it on social media, but to contact investigators.