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UBC: 6 sexual assaults likely have same suspect, RCMP says

Police say sexual assaults of six female UBC students are 'likely' related. The most recent attack occurred last Saturday.
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The main clock tower at UBC's Vancouver campus. Six sexual assaults have been reported in recent weeks.

Six recent sexual assaults at the University of British Columbia appear to be linked by the same culprit, police said on Tuesday.

"(They) appear to be related and are likely to have been committed by the same suspect," said Lower Mainland District RCMP spokesman Sgt. Peter Thiessen (CBC).

The most recent reported attack occurred last Sunday – Oct. 27, 2013 – when a young woman was attacked by Gage Hall residence on Student Union Boulevard, around 1:30 a.m. PST. She was grabbed from behind and able to fend the attacker off.

On the weekend of October 19, two other young women were assaulted late at night or early in the morning, and the suspect tried to drag one of the victims – a 17-year-old female student – into nearby woods.

Three attacks that first gained considerable attention occurred in a three-week period, starting in late September. All three women were groped under their skirt and were grabbed from behind.

All three suspects in those cases – which could be the same man, according to today's RCMP announcement – were described as tall white men with hoodies.

After the attack on October 19, police said they were looking for a Caucasian man in his late 20s to early 30s, with a 6'2 height, thin build, and short hair.

The first reported attack occurred on Sept. 28, 2013, around 2:45 a.m., when a 19-year-old student was grabbed from behind and groped on her genitalia (CTV News). The suspect wrapped his arm around her waist and tried to drag her into a garden area.

VIDEO below from CBC, of Tuesday's RCMP announcement: