Sunbury Park sex assault didn’t happen: Delta Police

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DELTA (NEWS 1130) – A sex assault reported at Sunbury Park in Delta didn’t actually happen.

Police confirm the woman who reported the April 12th attack has taken back her story.

The original report said a woman was walking in the area of the park when she says she was attacked from behind. The woman who made the claim said it was a stranger who had attacked her.

“We took a number of steps. We provided victim services…we increased patrols in the area, we took a number of measures to gather information and evidence,” says Delta Police’s Cris Leykauf.

“Stranger sexual assaults are very rare and they are prioritized at quite a high level due to the risk of public safety. We also held a public meeting on May 9th since a number of community concerns had been expressed.”

They also released a composite sketch of the suspect, but through the investigation, Leykauf says evidence came to light that made them believe the assault didn’t actually happen.

“In a subsequent follow up meeting with the woman, she confirmed that the assault did no take place and she recanted her statement.”

Leykauf says the woman did explain why she lied to police, but officers aren’t sharing her reasoning. She hopes this one incident won’t discourage other assault victims from coming forward.

“No matter what happened in this case, our investigators will always treat these reports very seriously and of course we will work with the community to do our best to ensure public safety.”

Delta Police say while false reports can result in a charge of public mischief, charges are “not in the public interest” in this case.

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