Kingston Police (KP) recorded two more cases of indecent exposure in the University District on Dec. 8, capping off the year with a total of seven incidents occurring in the University District.

Although all seven cases in the University District from 2015 had similarities between them, KP has only confirmed that the four most recent cases from October and December are being investigated for a possible link.

The two incidents in December, where a male in a vehicle approached and exposed himself to multiple female victims, occurred roughly 10 minutes apart.

The first occurred at approximately 3:35 p.m. when two female grade 5 Winston Churchill Public School students were walking home on Earl St. between Macdonnell and Napier Streets. The two girls immediately reported the incident to a teacher who was still in the area.

The second, which occurred roughly five blocks down Earl St. between Frontenac and Alfred Streets, was reported by a female Queen’s student.

KP Media Relations Officer Steve Koopman said no arrests have been made, but detectives continue to investigate the incidents.

According to a KP press release, the suspect was described as a white male wearing a dark jacket between 18 to 20 years old. In one of the incidents, he was also described as wearing a dark-coloured hat.

Witnesses described the vehicle as a red, older-model small sedan that didn’t appear to be well maintained. In one incident, witnesses described it as similar to a Pontiac Sunfire. In another case, it was described as similar to a Toyota Corolla.

Reports from October 2015

KP is also investigating the possibility of a link between the recent incidents and two similar incidents reported in October.

On Oct. 25 at around 6:40 p.m., a woman was walking on the sidewalk of Collingwood St. close to Earl St. when a similar vehicle approached her.

The male driver — also described as a Caucasian man in his mid-twenties, with an  average build, short dark hair and wearing a baseball cap with a dark-coloured tank top — attempted to start a conversation with the female pedestrian. In doing so, he got her attention and exposed himself while seated in the vehicle.

Two days later, an almost identical incident was reported when another female was walking westbound on Earl St. at Clergy St. The time was around 1:45 p.m. on Oct. 27.

Reports from January and March 2015

The Journal has previously reported on three other cases of indecent exposure in January and March 2015.

On Jan. 11 at approximately 10 p.m., an incident occurred just outside of the ARC.  An unknown male walking on Earl St. approached a female pedestrian and then exposed his genitalia. The pedestrian then entered the ARC as the suspect fled on foot.

In this case, the individual was described as a tall Caucasian man in his teens, possibly high school age, with light, possibly blond hair and a slim build. At the time of the incident, he was wearing pyjama bottoms and a brown or beige winter jacket.

On March 15, a female student was leaving the ARC when a male in a vehicle who had his penis exposed approached her. Once the woman noticed, the man drove away.

Detectives also looked into a second incident that wasn’t reported to police. It occurred the same evening, presumably minutes after the first interaction.

In that case, a male in a vehicle with a similar description approached a female Queen’s student at Union and Pembroke Streets. The student, who was also leaving the ARC, observed his hand in the area of his groin.

The suspect fit a similar description in both March 15 cases.

The vehicle was described as a four-door newer model sedan, dark blue or possibly black, small to medium in size. One witness described it as being similar to a Honda Civic.

Possible link not yet ruled out

Although descriptions of the perpetrator and his vehicle from January and March have slight differences than the more recent cases in October and December, KP say they haven’t officially ruled out a link between the seven cases.

However, he couldn’t say definitively whether or not detectives had looked at the previous cases in connection with the recent ones, and as a result couldn’t conclusively say whether there was a link or not.

As of the present, detectives are still looking for tips from the public to help their investigation.

Koopman said he could only speculate as to why these incidents occur frequently in the University District, but it’s possible that the perpetrator has a preference in victims.

“I can’t speak obviously to the intent or the motive behind the individuals … in the Queen’s University District, if there was a proclivity for young female victims or targets, then that would be a target rich environment”.

By the numbers:

According to Koopman, KP recorded 19 cases of indecent exposure in 2015 for the entire city of Kingston. Of those 19, 14 of the cases had indecent exposure as the primary offence, with the other five cases having it as a secondary offence.

Of the 19 total cases, 11 occurred in two of the nine city zones: Zones 1 and 4, which encompass Queen’s University and the University District.

Of the 11 in Zones 1 and 4, four of the incidents took place outside of the general University District, leaving seven or 37 per cent of incidents in 2015 occurring in the University District.

Investigators have asked the public to obtain the licence plate of any vehicle they suspect of being involved if it’s safe to do so. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Tanya Compeau at 613-549-4660 ext. 6321 or via email at tcompeau@kpf.ca.

Anonymous tips can be made to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or on the website at www.tipsubmit.com. Tipsters are eligible for a cash reward of up to $2,000. Tips can also be left through the Kingston Police MyPD app that can be downloaded at www.kpf.ca, by private message to the Kingston Police Facebook Page, or via a Direct Message to the official Twitter account.

To learn more about similar incidents, take a look at The Journal’s archive:

Student reports indecent exposure

Assault near main campus

Police arrest man for indecent exposure

Indecent exposure incident reported