Ottawa Sun 

25 August 2007 

By KENNETH JACKSON, SUN MEDIA

As Ottawa police continue to search for a suspect in a downtown sexual assault of a man, the investigator on the case says it's nearly unheard of for a male victim to tell anyone about the assault, let alone report it to police.

And what's worse is that when men do report the crime, there's little help available to them in Ottawa.

"I find it rare. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but it's just rare that I'd be assigned a case like this," said Det. Nicole St. John of the sexual assault unit.

St. John juggles anywhere from five to 25 sexual assault cases at a time and almost all of them involve women and children.

At about 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 13, police allege an adult male was walking near Bank St. and Gladstone Ave. when he was approached by a black man.

They spoke for a bit and, at one point, the suspect forced the victim to an isolated area and sexually assaulted him.

"There are different places, dark alleys where it could have happened," she said, not willing to give the Sun the exact location of the alleged assault.

St. John said it was a random attack and the two men didn't know each other.

PLACES TO GO

For female sex assault victims, there are a number of places to go for help in Ottawa, but for a man it can be difficult to find such services.

Rick Goodwin, executive director The Men's Project in Ottawa, said they refer men to the Ottawa Hospital, where there is an eight-session counselling treatment program.

"It's eight sessions, free of charge, which is good or good enough. We'll help them after if they need it," said Goodwin. "But we rarely get calls from men that have been recently sexually assaulted."

Men don't like to tell anyone they've been victimized and, Goodwin said, they tend to bottle it up and try to deal with it on their own.

"Men are slower to engage in services until it becomes truly a crisis to them," he said. "Normally, (the assault) happened a year ago or five years ago and has been on the back burner since then."

Typically, men turn to drugs and alcohol, but when that ultimately fails they seek help elsewhere.

"The trauma becomes full-blown and they can't handle it on their own," said Goodwin.

NO DESCRIPTION

The victim in this month's sexual assault doesn't want his age or description released to media, St. John said.

"He just wanted people to know it had happened," she said.

Police have canvassed the area and St. Jean said she needs to speak to the victim again.

"The investigation is ongoing. There's still a lot to do," she said.

The suspect is described as black, just under six-feet-tall, has a medium build with a pronounced stomach, shaved head, possible facial hair and is English-speaking, possibly with an accent. He was wearing a T-shirt, khaki shorts and sandals at the time of the assault.

Anyone with information is asked to contact St. John at 613-236-1222 ext. 5150.