Sarnia police have seen an increase in reports of sexual assault in 2023.
Since January 1, there have been 31 sexual assaults reported in Sarnia, or roughly eight per month. That's up from an average of six reports a month in 2020 and around 5.5 in 2019.
Deputy Chief Julie Craddock said while the number is a little bit higher than normal, the vast majority of reports are historical.
"Because [of this], there's no real public safety threat in terms of needing to do public notification, so our commitment is just to ensure that we're doing a proper investigation," said Craddock. "There's no statue of limitations on the reporting of sexual offences, so they can be reported at any time."
Craddock said they'll typically see more historical cases brought forward following a public awareness campaign, however, that's not the case this time around.
"So we're not sure why there's an increase but just that there has been," she said. "And again, every single offense that's reported to us gets treated seriously, it gets a full investigative package, and so they're very, very time consuming."
Craddock said police will always encourage more survivors to come forward to share their stories.
"They are offenses that are very complex, not only for a police investigation but for the person that actually experienced the abuse," she said. "When people are ready to report, then we would certainly encourage them to do that knowing that their complaints will be taken seriously and investigated thoroughly."
Craddock said there's a very big difference between a stranger sexual assault, and a sexual offense that's perpetrated by a known offender on a known victim.
"So that's what we're seeing," she said. "We're not seeing stranger sexual assaults within the community."
Craddock said police want to make sure that they have a trauma informed approach so they're able to provide supports to victims and survivors.
