Police still investigating reports: spokesman
Jun 25, 2009 - 02:21 PM
By Jeff Mitchell
OSHAWA -- An Oshawa parent is asking why police didn't issue a community alert after several boys reported being approached in a public swimming pool change room by a suspicious man.
Steven Webster said that while Durham police responded to a report of the man's inappropriate conduct earlier this month at the Legends Centre pool, there's been no news of an arrest and the service didn't publicize the incident through the media.
"What's to prevent (the man) from going to another facility in Durham Region or somewhere else?" Mr. Webster said.
"They haven't apprehended this individual and he's still at large."
Mr. Webster called police after learning of the incident on the evening of June 1. Mr. Webster said his stepson and four friends, aged 11 and 12, had been swimming at the public pool on Harmony Road North when they were approached in the change room by a man who made inappropriate comments.
The "creepy" man, who was naked, also reportedly went through the boys' belongings, Mr. Webster said.
Police were contacted and the boys all made statements. When he saw a story in the media a couple of weeks later about Durham police seeking information on a man who'd been approaching girls in Oshawa, Mr. Webster wondered why the Legends Centre incident hadn't been similarly publicized.
"I want the public made aware of what has happened," he said.
Durham police spokesman Dave Selby said that while the report is being treated seriously, a decision was made not to issue a media release about it.
"There wasn't a feeling amongst us it needed to go to the public in terms of there being any immediate threat or danger," Mr. Selby said.
Among the concerns were discrepancies in descriptions of events given by the boys and the possibility they may have misconstrued the man's intentions, Mr. Selby said.
But investigators are seeking security tapes from the Legends Centre and consider the incident a live file, he said.
"We haven't taken it lightly and we are working on it," Mr. Selby said. "There's still an active investigation ongoing."
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