A Langley man has been charged in multiple violent sexual assaults here and in Surrey, RCMP say.
Kevin Adelmo Sharp, 22, has been charged with break and enter, two counts of sexual assault with a weapon, car theft, and assault causing bodily harm. He is in custody awaiting his first trial, set to start June 8 in Surrey Provincial Court.
Police used DNA evidence to link Sharp to multiple incidents, said Cpl. Holly Marks, spokesperson for the Langley RCMP.
Langley police began investigating last October when two similar attacks took place just four days apart.
On Oct. 3 at 11:30 p.m., a woman flagged down an RCMP officer and said she had just been attacked.
The woman, a sex trade worker, had been picked up and driven to a park in the 19800 block of 53rd Ave., said Marks.
When they arrived, she asked for cash up front. The man said he would pay later, and when she refused to have sex with him, he sexually assaulted her, shoved her out of his car, and fled, nearly hitting her with the vehicle.
On Oct. 7, a Langley woman was attacked in Surrey under similar circumstances, said Marks.
In that case, the woman was able to escape. Her attacker rifled through her purse and took some items before fleeing in a vehicle.
Police used traditional investigative methods to identify a suspect, but also collected DNA evidence from the attacks.
Those two investigations allowed police to link their suspect to an incident that took place last May.
On May 1, a woman living in the 20500 block of 24th Avenue go up in the middle of the night to let her cat in through a sliding glass door.
A man grabbed her by the neck and forced his way into her bedroom. She was both physically and sexually assaulted before the suspect stole some personal items and fled.
The victim was given a sexual assault examination at the hospital and last fall the Forensic Assessment Centre linked DNA found on the May 1 victim to the suspect in the October attacks.
“These charges are a direct result of the advancements in police forensic evidence gathering and analysis along with the ability to work seamlessly across municipal borders,†said Supt. Murray Power, head of the Langley RCMP detachment. “Connecting allegations such as these to one person is a constant policing concern and was often difficult to do in years past. We are very pleased with the investigative result and will do all we can to support the victims as we move forward.â€