West-end residents have taken to social media to alert other members of the community about a possible serial sexual predator lurking around neighbourhoods near High Park.
Speaking to CTV News Toronto on Thursday, Laila Grants described her unnerving encounter with a man who exposed himself as she was walking down the street in the city’s Runnymede neighbourhood on Saturday afternoon.
She said she and a friend were walking in the area of Armadale and Nelles avenues, near Bloor and Jane streets, when she made eye contact with the driver of a red car that was slowing down.
The driver, she said, made a U-turn, pulled down a side street, and got out of the vehicle.
After he “pretended to jog” for a bit, Grants said the man undressed himself behind a car and performed an indecent sexual act on a nearby lawn.
“My friend and I we looked at him and were just disgusted. We walked away and he just vanished,” she said.
Similar incidents have been reported in the area by members of a west-end community Facebook group.
Toronto police say no formal report has been filed but they are “aware” of the posts on social media.
“Toronto police would like to advise the public that if they are in a situation where there is an indecent exposure, please call police. This way a police report is generated and we can follow up,” Const. Jeniffer Sidhu told reporters on Thursday.
“If you are in a situation where this is occurring, immediately get a good description of the person (and) get that licence plate of that vehicle. The more information you have, the more information that is available for us to actually arrive on scene and locate this person.”
