An alleged child predator who was arrested and charged earlier this year is now facing a civil lawsuit in connection with a “brutal” sexual assault in a Toronto area park reported nearly 30 years ago.
A statement of claim filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in May alleges that the plaintiff was 10-years-old when he was forced to perform sex acts on a stranger, identified in the filings as Richard Neil, who approached him while walking through Brampton’s Norton Place Park on Sept. 29, 1994.
This past March, Neil, 65, was arrested by Peel Regional Police following a decades-long investigation into a number of sexual assaults reported in the 90s.
The assaults, which all reportedly took place in forested areas, saw investigators dub their suspect ‘the Woodland Rapist.’
A composite sketch of a suspect was released around the time of the assaults, but no arrests were ever made. Searches in the national DNA database didn’t turn up any matches to known offenders, either.
Investigators had previously speculated that the perpetrator may have died or moved from the area.
Fifteen years ago, police reopened the probe, releasing an image of a black cotton shirt left at one of the crime scenes. But it wasn’t until recently that DNA evidence provided the crack in the case investigators had sought for decades.
This black cotton shirt was left behind at one of the crime scenes in the ‘Woodlands Rapist’ case, police say.
Police laid 20 charges on Neil in March, including kidnapping, sexual assault with a weapon and making child pornography. He is currently awaiting trial.
The plaintiff in the civil case, whose identity is protected under a publication ban in place as part of the ongoing criminal proceedings, is seeking $1 million in damages in the aftermath of the alleged assault. Now 40, they claim they have suffered “profound trauma” in the decades since they reported the incident to police.
Neither the civil nor criminal claims against Neil have been tested in court.
Kathryn Manning, representing Neil in the civil case, declined to comment on the case while criminal proceedings are ongoing. Neil’s criminal defence lawyer, Leo Adler, also declined to comment on the allegations against his client. To do so, Adler said, could endanger the presumption of innocence and Neil’s right to a fair and unbiased trial.
Historical photo of Richard Neil (left) and in the present day (right). (Peel Regional Police)
On Sept. 29, 1994, the 10-year-old plaintiff was walking through Norton Place Park in Brampton, according to the statement of claim.
Neil approached the child, the statement alleges, stole their clothes, and “brutally sexually assaulted [them] over the course of several hours.”
When the plaintiff was able to escape, they fled to a nearby house for help, the document claims. Police and an ambulance were called, and the child gave a statement to investigators and received treatment at the hospital.
Shortly after the alleged attack, the plaintiff claims they brought investigators back to the scene, where they collected DNA evidence that, in part, led to the recent charges against Neil.
According to the claim, the plaintiff has suffered “profound” trauma stemming from the incident. As a result, he was unable to finish high school, and has struggled to maintain employment and support himself financially, it says.
Neil, granted bail in April, has been living in Victoria, B.C. His criminal case is scheduled to return to the Ontario Court of Justice on Oct. 21.
With files from CP24’s Joshua Freeman.