Who the suspect is and what he looks like is still unknown to police, which continues to put Central Surrey residents on edge two days after a lurid sexual assault in their community.
The only person who saw him or could potentially give a description is the young victim, a nine-year-old girl, which leaves investigators in a hard place.
“The worry always becomes not having the victim feel that she's been re-victimized through the process,” said RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Dale Carr, underlining the fact that police will have to wait until she is ready to talk.
On Wednesday night, a man lured her from her bedroom window and took her to Robson Park where she says the man sexually assaulted her on a bench.
Mounties don’t believe the suspect is known to the girl but they say they will revisit the idea when they speak to the girl again.
On average, 75 per cent of victims are familiar in some way with their attackers.
“The police will be well aware of the possibility that it is somebody known to the child despite protestations to the contrary and that they don’t want to start talking in those terms at this point until they’ve had an opportunity to explore all the options,” said SFU Professor of Criminology Rob Gordon.
It is possible she is protecting someone or is frightened and fear may be what lured her from her bedroom window, according to Gordon.
Most nine-year-olds are street smart enough to know not to go with strangers, however sometimes the fear overrules that, he said.
“They're going to react the same way an adult would in the situation where there's a high level of fear. If there's fear you or a loved one is going to be threatened, almost all of us would do things we normally almost wouldn't,” he added.
RCMP investigators have tools and experience in dealing with these types of cases, said Gordon, and with time they will be able to reveal more about the man they are after.
With files from CTV’s St. John Alexander
