Calgary man charged with sexual assaults, robberies against personal care workers

Calgary police have laid a series of charges against a man relating to 10 separate armed robberies and sexual assaults around Calgary.

There were over half a dozen incidents in January and February where female employees at personal care businesses were targeted.

In each of the cases, the suspect claimed to be a customer, then demanded money from an employee at gunpoint and sexually assaulted the employee at gunpoint when they were alone.

The detective with the Calgary Police Service Sexual Assault Investigative Unit, Timothy Fitzgibbon, says it’s rare to see such a string of crimes like this.

“This is the first time in several years that Calgary has seen a series of such targetted, stranger sexual assaults. Our focus was to find the suspect and to stop these violent offenses and to work with personal care businesses to share information and prevent further incidents and establish some safety planning,” says Fitzgibbon.

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At this time, police are aware of 10 incidents but urge any other potential victims to come forward.

“It’s very concerning for the safety within our community [that] we don’t see offenders of this nature in this particular instance. What our investigation has shown is that there was a specific targeting of a certain type of business, a certain type of victim,” says Fitzgibbon.

Surveillance footage led police to identify a suspect and last week the 36-year-old man was arrested in Cranston.

He now faces 13 charges including sexual assault with a weapon and armed robbery.