UPDATE: Thursday, March 24 — Shortly before 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, police cadets arrested Johnny Walter Donald Garson, 36, of Winnipeg, in the downtown area. He has been charged with sexual assault and sexual interference. He remains in custody.
— — —
Winnipeg police are investigating after a 12-year-old girl was sexually assaulted in a building stairwell downtown on Monday.
Police say the victim was waiting in a bus shelter at the corner of Portage Avenue and Main Street at around 3:30 p.m. when a man began talking to her. The suspect convinced the girl to walk with him and took her to a stairwell off Lombard Avenue and Rorie Street, where she was seriously sexually assaulted.
The suspect is described as Indigenous in appearance, with shaggy hair and a dirty appearance. He was wearing unkempt clothing and had a scar above his eyebrow. He was wearing a black jacket and carried a backpack.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at (204) 986-3296 or Crime Stoppers at (204) 786-TIPS (8477).
