Four more women who say they were sexually assaulted in the Bloor Street and Christie Street area have come forward to police, bringing the total number of assaults to 10, police said Friday.
Toronto Police Const. Wendy Drummond said that the most recent women to come forward were assaulted during incidents between Aug. 16 and Aug. 28.
She said that the women gave police roughly the same description of a man who is suspected of sexually assaulting six other women in July and August.
The suspect in all the cases is described as a black male, between 17 and 35 years of age and between 5’7” and 5’9” tall.
On Wednesday, Toronto police warned the public of a series of sex assaults in the Annex and Kensington Market neighbourhoods.
“They are similar in nature. The females were walking alone. They were approached from behind, and they were attacked,” said Det. Const. Phillip Campbell during a press conference.
The most recent woman to come forward was assaulted on Thursday, Aug. 23 at about 10:40 p.m. as she was walking north on Christie Street.
Police said in a release that the man sexually assaulted the 27-year-old woman from behind and she screamed, causing the man to run south.
On Wednesday, Campbell said that police are concerned that the violence in the area could escalate, and that is why they are appealing to the public to come forward with any information.
“We’re always concerned that this is going to escalate,” he said. “We want to protect the public. We want to protect the females in the area and that’s why we’re here today.”
Police have also added extra officers to the area, Campbell said. This includes both uniformed and plain-clothes officers, he said.
