Police charge man in connection with 20-year-old sexual assault

The Calgary Police Service Sex Crimes Cold Case Unit has charged a man in connection with a random sexual assault against a minor that happened over 20 years ago.

On Thursday, March 23, 1995, a 16-year-old female was walking home from an evening school function when a man she did not know approached her. The man told her he had a gun, forced her into an alley located in the 6800 block of Huntridge Hill N.E., and sexually assaulted her.

Police were initially unable to find a suspect, but re-examined DNA evidence from the case in 2001 after the creation of the National DNA Data Bank. No DNA matches were found at the time, however, police re-submitted samples in November 2014 and a match was found. A nine-month investigation into the match was conducted and the suspect was arrested on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015, without incident.

Charles Henry DESJARLAIS, 52, of Lethbridge, is charged with one count of sexual assault with a weapon. He remains in custody and is next scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015.

The Calgary Police Service does not consider criminal investigations to be closed until they are solved, and encourages anyone with information about sexual assaults or other serious crimes to come forward – no matter how long ago the crime occurred.

Information can always be provided to police by calling 403-266-1234 or contacting Crime Stoppers anonymously using any of the following methods:

TALK: 1-800-222-8477

TYPE: www.calgarycrimestoppers.org

TEXT: tttTIPS to 274637

Case # 95058638/2605