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Residents of a tiny rural community in eastern Ontario pressed police on Saturday for answers about a disturbing attack on a young girl that investigators believed was caused by an animal — until they arrested a teenager in the case.
Nearly 100 people filled a small community centre in Quadeville, about 170 kilometres west of Ottawa, for a town hall organized by Ontario Provincial Police to address residents’ questions and concerns about their investigation.
Some have asked why the OPP alerted the community about a suspected animal attack on the eight-year-old girl before announcing two weeks later that a 17-year-old boy had been charged with sexual assault and attempted murder.
Police have said that they never ruled out other possibilities, and that their initial theory was supported by medical and pathology experts.
At Saturday evening’s town hall, police did not divulge any new information about the case that is now before the courts, but sought to assure residents they did everything they could to keep them informed throughout the investigation.
The community centre was packed, with no empty seats to be found. As people filed in, the temperature in the room started to increase on a sweltering evening, especially after someone shut off the portable air conditioning unit that was making noise.
“It’s a very traumatic time for this community because everyone knows everyone involved,” OPP Supt. Derek Needham said at the meeting punctuated by some tense moments.
When police opened the floor for questions, a man who identified himself as a relative of the victim asked why it took a long time for police to respond when the girl was initially reported missing on June 23, after she was last seen at a local store.
Police replied that it took time to bring officers to the scene to search the area.
“I could’ve done my own investigation,” said the man, adding that he lives three hours away.
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The OPP have said that they began their search for the missing child around 9 p.m. on June 23, and found her with life-threatening injuries not long after midnight.
Police asked people to keep their small children indoors amid fears of an animal attack but as their investigation continued, they discovered that there were no traces of animal DNA from the victim’s wounds. Police have not said what kind of evidence led them to arrest the teenage suspect, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Town hall attendee Sandy Musclow asked police how members of the community should interact with the families of the young girl and the suspect.
“A whole lot of healing needs to take place,” Needham said, adding that the best thing for families to do is reach out and have open communication.
After the town hall ended, Musclow said “it’s been a bit difficult to figure out” how to support both families.
“I’ve grown up with them and we really want to make sure that we feel like everyone can feel the pain and move forward together as a community,” she said.
Musclow said that although residents didn’t get much information about the police investigation at the town hall, she was glad to see the community come together. She also pointed to various fundraising efforts for the girl, who remains in hospital, and her family.
“I just feel that the police did a really good job at giving us some solace that they did the right thing for us and they did everything as timely as they could and they were really looking into everyone’s interest,” Musclow said.
OPP spokesperson Bill Dickson told reporters on Saturday that police were compelled to warn the public about a possible animal attack in the early stages of the investigation, even if they weren’t sure that was the case.
“We couldn’t undersell it because if we didn’t say something and warn people and it was an animal and another child was attacked, that would be horrible,” he said.
Dickson said one of the local churches is bringing in counsellors to work with the community and counselling services from the OPP will also be available.
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