A 55-year-old man who allegedly sexually assaulted the child of a woman that he befriended while working at Toronto Western Hospital is facing additional charges, police say.
Det. Const. Alexandra Marks said that the suspect has been charged with nine new offences after multiple people came forward with new allegations following publicity of his arrest in January.
Marks did not say how the alleged victims came into contact with the suspect but she said that they were not people whom he came into contact with through his work at the hospital.
She said that police believe that the suspect met one of the complainants at the Bee Happy Family Campground in Innisfil, which is a facility that he has been known to frequent regularly since 2000.
“We are concerned that there may be more victims,” Marks told reporters. “This investigation is concerning to all of us.”
In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for Toronto Western Hospital confirmed that Noftall is “no longer employed at the hospital.”
“We have fully cooperated with police in this matter and expect that the police will release details of their ongoing investigation as they see fit,” the statement reads. “Toronto Western Hospital is an acute treatment centre for adults so children visiting the hospital are accompanied by adults.”
They said the matter has prompted them to look further into “hiring practices” at the hospital.
While employees are currently required to provide self-declarations of police interactions upon hiring, the hospital confirms to CTV News Toronto that starting next month, all new employees will be required to obtain and provide a police reference check.
Offences date back 18 years
The alleged offences for which the suspect is facing new charges took place between the years 2000 and 2017 while the previous allegations were from 2012.
Marks said that it appears as though the suspect communicated with the alleged victims through Facebook and Instagram, though she said that he did not seek them out through social media.
The suspect used the name Terrence Lee Noftall on Facebook and TNoftall on Instagram, according to Marks.
Terrence Noftall, 55, is now facing a combined 17 charges. The new charges include accessing child pornography, three counts of sexual interference, three counts of sexual assault and two counts of breach of a Section 161 order.
None of the charges have been proven in court.
Marks said that the latter charges stem from a 10-year prohibition on contact with children that the suspect was handed in 2009 following a conviction for sexual interference.
“A Section 161 order is a prohibition order than can be given by the courts when an offender is convicted of a sexual offence with respect to a person under the age of 16,” she said. “I am not going to state the specific conditions from the order.”
Marks said that “any little bit of information can be helpful to an investigation” and said that police are “strongly urging” anyone with knowledge of the suspect’s alleged offences to come forward.
