Suspect charged in sexual assault in Kamloops park

RCMP have arrested and charged a 40-year-old Kamloops man in connection to a sexual assault in a Kamloops park last summer.

At the time, police said a man approached a woman from behind in the city's West End on the evening of Sunday, July 9, and grabbed her in a sexual nature.

The victim and her attacker had a brief altercation and she was able to get free.

The assault happened on a walking path between Strathcona Terrace and St. Paul Street West and investigators were hoping to identify a female jogger who ran past the crime scene that night.

“Since then, the investigation has continued to advance with the support of our General Investigations Support Team and Sex Crimes Unit, and led us to the next stage of the judicial process in which a suspect has been charged and will appear in court,” Kamloops RCMP Supt. Jeff Pelley said in a media release issued today, May 28.

Ryan Joseph Gallant, 40, of Kamloops is charged with one count of sexual assault and was recently served a summons to appear in court on June 13.

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