A man has allegedly exposed himself to two young girls in Ruckle
By Shara JJ Cooper
Ruckle residents are raising the alarm after two girls, aged 12 and 13, made reports that a man had exposed himself to them Saturday evening.
The two girls were walking around the Grand Forks subdivision when a man allegedly approached them and made lewd comments while exposing himself to them.
“I was on my porch (out front) and heard people talking,” said witness Laurie Edeburn. “He was talking too loudly to them. He said ‘Oh don’t you walk away from me.’ That’s what they told me at least. I couldn’t hear him.”
The man left when he saw Edeburn approaching.
Edeburn was not able to get a full description of the man, but said he was riding a red scooter, had a beard and a two-tone helmet. She thinks he is at least 30-years-old because of his deep voice.
“It was dusk, you know, so I couldn’t really see him,” she said.
This is a problem the RCMP are struggling with.
“The descriptions that were given are not as good as expected,” said Staff Sgt. Jim Harrison. “We don’t have a possible age or facial description.”
Police were called to the scene Saturday night and Harrison said officers arrived promptly.
“We checked the three people that came close to that description but the results were all negative,” he said. “We immediately patrolled the area but didn’t see anyone.”
Harrison said that there are no known suspects in the area that would fit the description or behaviour.
“We are going to be vigilant but there have been no (previous) incidents like that whatsoever,” he said, adding they aren’t doubting the girls, but they have no evidence to substantiate it, especially without a solid description.
Since the incident, Edeburn has heard from other Ruckle residents who believe they have seen the man and that he was shouting out lewd comments.
“One person said they saw him on the black train bridge but without the scooter,” she said. “(Another woman) said she saw him in the bushes. A lot of people seem to be just letting it pass. They aren’t calling the police.”
Edeburn has been keeping her eye out for the suspect and believes that she’d be able to identify him if he was on his scooter.
“I think I’d recognize him again. A silhouette on a bike is pretty distinctive.”
