VANCOUVER—A 16-year-old boy who met a 12-year-old girl on a social networking site and arranged a meeting at a Calgary schoolyard may face charges of sexual interference after the two youths allegedly began engaging in a sexual act in view of their friends.
Staff Sergeant Leah Barber with the Calgary Police Service said Tuesday that police initially had received reports that a group of teens witnessed and encouraged a sexual assault and recorded the act on their cellphones.
The incident shocked the community and Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach earlier in the day called the act “absolutely disgusting” and “incomprehensible.”
But Barber, who is with the Calgary Police Service Child Abuse Unit, said investigators are confident now that this was not a random attack.
“Originally it was portrayed as a random attack or mob situation and that’s not the case here,” she said Tuesday. “It wasn’t exactly like a kid was walking through the park and a bunch of other kids jumped her.”
The incident took place just before 5 p.m. Monday and police were called after two workers inside Clarence Sansom Junior High School saw what looked like an assault. It had initially appeared as if the youths were egging on the assault and taking photographs.
Barber said Tuesday that nine of the youths have been interviewed and no photos or video have been recovered from the witnesses.
The 12-year-old girl was taken to hospital, examined and has since been released to her parents. The 16-year-old boy has not been charged but could be facing charges of sexual interference, according to Barber.
Under the Criminal Code, a 12-year-old can consent to sex with someone less than two years older than themselves but not with anyone who is more than two years older.
Barber said alcohol was involved.
“This is disturbing because there’s a reason why you can’t purchase or consume alcohol until you’re 18,” she said. “Youths don’t realize how quickly they can become incapable of making rational decisions when they’ve had alcohol.”
The girl had come to the schoolyard with some of her friends and the 16-year-old boy also brought friends to the meeting spot. Barber said the ages of the youths at the schoolyard were between 12 and 16 years old.
Barber said counselling has been offered to the youths who were in the schoolyard at the time of the alleged incident. It’s not clear, she said, whether any of the youths were students at the school where the incident occurred.
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