Man charged with sexual assault after 12-year-old groped on Granville Island: police

A 42-year-old man has been arrested and charged in relation to the sexual assault of a child on Granville Island earlier this month.

The victim, a 12-year-old girl, contacted police, saying she was attacked at the Granville Island Public Market on Aug. 13.

1:51 VPD investigating after three young girls groped near False Creek

Derek Sangris was arrested on Tuesday and has been charged with sexual assault and sexual interference.

The girl came forward after police issued a public warning about a series of gropings around False Creek on Aug. 17.

1:16 Surge in stranger sex assaults warrants Vancouver police warning

Police said the first assaults happened around 4:30 p.m., when a pair of 11-year-old girls were walking by the seawall near Granville Island. A man on a bicycle approached them from behind and groped one of the girls, police said, and then followed them to West 6th Avenue and Birch Street where he groped the second girl.

About 30 minutes later, a man groped a 15-year-old girl who was running on the seawall near Science World.

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Police say they are working to determine if the suspect is linked to other unsolved sexual attacks in the area.

— With files from Simon Little