Monday, July 16, 2012

Man exposed himself on the subway for years, say Toronto women of Ethiopian descent

(July 14, 2012, the star)--In the aftermath of an indecent act arrest, several Toronto women of Ethiopian descent say a man has masturbated in front of them on the TTC for many years. Police made the arrest after an off-duty TTC employee saw a man exposing himself in front of a woman on the Bloor-Danforth subway line at 2 p.m. Friday.

Police praised the TTC worker for stopping the man, following him out of the train and calling police from the Bloor St. and Ossington Ave. area. Toronto resident Hiwot Telaye said she was on a westbound subway with a few friends last year when a man holding a newspaper left a car on the same train and entered theirs. “He made an eye contact but he’s a fellow Ethiopian so I wasn’t surprised,” Telaye said.

Then “we saw the hand motions behind the newspaper while his eyes were fixed on us,” she said, recalling the moment in disgust. “We were in all kinds of disbelief.” Sgt. Ralph Brookes said police have previously received several calls about a man exposing himself on the Bloor-Danforth subway.

Eden Hagos first saw a man “touching himself” on the subway in 2003. She has since seen the man doing the same thing three more times on the subway. Every time, he held a newspaper around his waist. “You feel violated,” she said. The third time the man did this in front of her, Hagos said, she reported him to TTC authorities but was told they couldn’t do anything as he had already left the station.

Many of her girlfriends, mostly Ethiopian and Eritrean, have complained about the same experience, Hagos said. Yohannes Berhe, 43, of Toronto has been charged. He appeared in Old City Hall court Saturday.
Source: TheStar.com

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