VANCOUVER - A sexual-assault charge has been laid against a German tourist who Vancouver-area transit police say has a history of similar offences.

Police say they received a complaint of an incident Monday morning on a downtown rapid-transit line, and when they attended they located the victim and the suspect.

They say the victim told officers she was groped by a man while holding onto a pole inside a train car on the Canada Line, which connects downtown Vancouver to Richmond and the Vancouver airport.

Police say the woman yelled at the man and insisted he leave the train with her at a downtown station, where she called an attendant.

Forty-four-year-old Wolfgang Goffing was arrested and charged with sexual assault, but he remained in custody as of Tuesday afternoon because he had not yet posted a $5,000 cash bond.

Police say Goffing has a history of sexual offences and was scheduled to leave Canada this coming Sunday but is instead expected to appear in provincial court on Monday.