Police hunting for sex-crime suspect after multiple assaults in hour-long frenzy

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This article was published 02/11/2023 (1069 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police are searching for a man accused of a string of sex assaults and flashing incidents downtown Tuesday afternoon.

Winnipeg Police Service sex crimes investigators believe the same suspect was involved in all five of the reported incidents, which occurred within a short distance of each other downtown between 4 and 5 p.m. on Halloween.

In the first incident, a man entered a restaurant on the 200 block of Portage Avenue and made sexual comments to the women working there before exposing himself. The staff got outside safely and called for help.

A woman walking in the skywalk over the 300 block of Portage Avenue then reported that a man had approached her and exposed himself. She got away and found security guards.

Another woman reported that a man touched her sexually while she was leaving a business on the street level of the 300 block of Portage Avenue.

Further west, on the University of Winnipeg campus off the 500 block of Portage Avenue, two women told police that a man confronted them, exposing himself as he assaulted them on the ground, before he ran off.

The victims did not need medical help and called for law enforcement, police said.

Back on the 200 block of Portage Avenue, police said, a woman reported she had been sexually touched by a man while she was in a store.

Sex-crimes investigators are searching for the suspect, who appears to be in his 20s with a fair complexion and a slim build. He was clean-shaven, police said.

Police ask anyone with information about the suspect’s identity or his whereabouts to call the sex crimes unit at 204-986-6254 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477. Anyone who sees the suspect in their immediate vicinity to call 911.