Oak Bay Police have identified a 25-year-old man who was believed to be using a teddy bear to lure teenage girls in a series of incidents.
On December 30th, 2020, a 14-year-old girl told police she had been approached by a stranger near the Oak Bay Recreation Centre. The teen told police she was walking in the area with friends and saw the man place a small teddy bear on the sidewalk.
When she picked up the teddy bear, the man approached her and engaged her in a conversation.
Police responded to the area to look for the man and made inquiries with neighbourhood residents but did not locate the individual.
A few days later, the teen said she saw the man in the same area again, and saw the bear on the sidewalk as well.
This prompted Oak Bay Police to issue a media release to the public of the incident as they searched for the man.
On Friday, January 8th, police responded to two reports of a man placing a teddy bear on the track at Oak Bay High School; he was then reportedly hanging around to watch as girls approached it.
“Complainants described this as a similar incident they had read in the papers earlier in the week,” Oak Bay Police said in a release.
Police attended the area and were able to identify a 25-year-old man.
“Investigators have spoken with him. While his actions were not illegal they did cause significant concern and the impact of his actions has been explained to him,” the release said.
No other details were released.
