Man faces charges in historic sexual assaults: Vancouver police

A man has been charged with four counts of sexual assault in relation to historical sex crimes that occurred more than a decade ago, Vancouver police say.

Providing an update Wednesday to what it called a series of “cold cases,” Vancouver Police Department Deputy Chief Fiona Wilson says the suspect, 45-year-old Arturo Garcia Gorjon, was arrested in Regina in July and brought back to Vancouver to face charges.

“Sometimes we solve cases overnight, and sometimes it takes a bit longer. … It can feel like we’re never going to catch the break we need, but I’m here to tell you that no matter how long it takes, no matter how many roadblocks are put in our way, we will work as long and as hard as we need to get the job done,” Wilson said.

The investigation goes back to Canada Day in 2009, Wilson explains, when a 20-year-old woman was attacked and sexually assaulted by a stranger near Granville Island.

Police say the second attack happened on Nov. 15, 2009, when a 25-year-old woman was sexually assaulted in the West End while entering an apartment building. The third assault happened just seven months later when a woman was attacked in Yaletown.

In all cases, the attacker managed to flee before police arrived, Wilson says. “It was clear that young women were being targeted by a predator in the downtown core and with evidence collected in each case, we soon theorized that one person could be responsible for all stranger attacks.”

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“Though it was clear someone was targeting young women in the city, there was initially no evidence to conclusively link the three cases, and the identity of the attacker remained unknown,” police say.

“Project Scrimmage” was launched in 2011 in hopes of finding a break, Wilson says, and in January this year, police received evidence linking the three cases, along with a fourth cold case that happened in downtown Vancouver on Christmas Eve in 2010.

“It is an intensely personal decision for any victim of violent crime to come forward and share their story with police,” Wilson said. “We owe it to those who come forward to do everything we can to support them, to identify the people responsible, and to hold those offenders accountable.”

Garcia Gorjon posted bail and has been released with conditions pending his next court date on Sep. 12.