In a follow-up to a previous story, on May 27, the OPS charged a 50-year-old man in connection with a sexual assault that occurred late Saturday, March 28, on Colonel By Drive, in the area beneath the Mackenzie King Bridge. The assault took place between approximately 11:00 p.m. ET and midnight. The assault was subsequently reported to the OPS, and the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit investigated the incident. During the investigation, officers identified the suspect as 50-year-old David Cheddesingh and arrested him on May 25. The investigation is ongoing and investigators believe there could be additional victims. Police are asking anyone who may have been driving along Colonel By Drive during that time and has dash cam footage, or anyone who was in the area and may have witnessed anything suspicious, to come forward.

On May 29, the OPS charged two men following a multi-jurisdictional investigation involving technology-facilitated sexual violence. After the OPS received a report of harmful online content depicting the victim, investigators quickly launched a trauma-informed and victim-centred investigation. The investigation focused on allegations of criminal harassment and the online exploitation of women, including the alleged misuse of emerging technologies to create and distribute harmful sexual content without consent, including, but not limited to, artificial intelligence (AI) deepfakes. As the investigation progressed, investigators determined that the impact extended beyond a single complainant and crossed jurisdictional boundaries. 

Police charged Stephen Lowe, 60, of Maitland, NS and Gregry Van Beek, 38, of West Nipissing, ON. Police arrested Lowe on February 12 and charged him with 25 counts of harassment by combination of prohibited conduct, 25 counts of uttering threats, 25 counts of publishing/possessing obscene material for distribution, 2 counts of printing/publishing/possessing to publish child sexual abuse material, and 2 counts of importing/selling/distributing, etc. child sexual abuse material. 

Van Beek was arrested on May 2 and has been charged with 2 counts of harassment by watching and besetting, 1 count of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, 2 counts of uttering threats and 2 counts of publishing intimate images without consent. As the matter is before the courts and subject to a publication ban, that is all the available information at this time.

On May 30, the OPS responded to Mooney’s Bay Park at approximately 8:53 p.m. ET following reports of a stabbing altercation, where two injured victims were located. Authorities located two injured victims, transporting one to the hospital with serious injuries, while the other victim received minor injuries. No arrests have been made at this time, as the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the OPS.

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A proactive bike patrol resulted in two arrests after an officer was informed that two people were loitering near a business on Collier Street.

Police learned that both people were wanted by the Barrie Police Service on outstanding arrest warrants, the individuals, a male and female, were taken into custody and both found to be in possession of fentanyl. 

The male, 36, was also found to be in possession of cocaine and female, 28, was found to be in possession of suspected heroin. 

Both are facing charges and the female was found to be breaching a court-imposed release order. 

Investigation continues into May 6 assault

Barrie Police are continuing the investigation into an assault that was reported just before 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Police responded to the report of a woman who had been assaulted by an unknown individual while walking on the sidewalk.

The suspect is described as a white male in his early 20s, approximately 6” tall, and police are asking for anyone with information to contact the Criminal Investigations Unit.

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The term femicide, defined as the intentional murder of women or girls on the basis of gender, was brought into circulation by the Ottawa Poice Service in 2022 as a way to track and classify homicides with female victims. 

It isn’t a formal charge or definition in the Canadian Criminal Code; rather, it’s an “acknowledgement” of the motive or context of a homicide, says Melanie Winwood. Winwood, a social worker who has studied GBV for over 15 years, chaired the advisory committee that oversaw the implementation of a GBV advisor within the Ottawa Police Service. She has now held that role since 2021.

In the first four months of 2025, there were two femicides, which occurred within days of each other. In comparison, there were four in 2024, and the first did not occur until July.

While Winwood said it’s too soon to say whether or not these two cases indicate an increased rate for 2025, she’s “watching closely.”

Homicide detectives assigned to the case are the “first line” in determining whether or not a homicide qualifies as a “femicide”, she explained. In the two cases so far of this year, she said they were quick to apply the definition.

“They’re understanding that education piece, and I’ve done a lot of that work internally to try to get people to understand why we’re doing this and things like that,” Winwood told Ottawa Compass. 

Renée Descary, 51, was killed on Heney Street shortly after 4:30 p.m. on April 1 Ottawa Police say they have charged Oliver Denai, 24, of Ottawa, with second-degree murder, alleging he stabbed her to death. Police also say her death is being investigated as a femicide.

On April 5, police responded to an address on Bentbrook Crescent in Barrhaven where they located a woman who was deceased. The Ottawa Police Service Homicide Unit have since identified the victim as Brenda Rus, 60, and charged Robert Rus, 61, with first-degree murder. Police also said the case is being considered a femicide.

In both cases, detectives determined that the “manner” of the homicides as well as the context deemed them femicides.

“The intent is just bringing the awareness and appropriately labelling it to be able to recognize what occurred,” explained Winwood. 

The Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability (CFOJA) has been tracking and labelling femicides on a national level since 2018. Between 2018 and 2022, reported femicides have been consistently rising, CFOJA data shows, with 196 estimated in 2022.

But Winwood said there is also an “expectation” of additional work to be done that accompanies using the term “femicide”.

“It’s one thing to come out and use appropriate language and label these as femicides. But we also have to try to continue working towards addressing it as much as we can,” she explained. “We can’t just sit back and be like, ‘Okay, like we’re using the word femicide. We’re good now.’” 

Many cases of GBV occur within intimate partner relationships, and the violence escalates over time before sometimes resulting in a femicide, Winwood said. In these cases, there are signs of violence, and the femicides can sometimes be prevented with early intervention.

There are also emerging trends that she said she finds “additionally concerning”. For example, she says there are increasing rates of violence and sexual assault against women perpetrated by young males under the age of 18.

“That’s kind of something that I’m really taking a look at to see if that’s going to, potentially, but hopefully doesn’t, lead to any femicide, especially with such young people,” she said. Though she said she doesn’t have access to ongoing investigations and evidence, she suspects social media is playing a big part in this. 

“To be quite fair, the political climate and misogynistic groups are having a lot of movement,” she explained. “Europe has a lot of misogynistic movements happening, so that’s something I’m keeping an eye on here, too.” 

In general, she said there must be an emphasis placed on believing and supporting victims so that more women and girls feel encouraged to report any violence they are experiencing.

“I’m very much in support of us naming this an epidemic. Our own stats demonstrate that every year we get more and more reports, and we know that that’s just a small fraction of the women that are actually experiencing violence,” she explained. “Most women, unless they are really feeling like they are in danger, just aren’t just reaching out to police.

“Considering that we’re getting almost 7,000 calls a year, and we know that that’s a fraction of the reality, we know that nothing’s going down, which is a problem,” Winwood continued. “So the fact that every year we’re getting more and more calls, and more and more women are being murdered, that definitely shows that we’re at crisis point.”

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The arrest follows a two-month investigation into the individual, during which police presented evidence to a judge to secure a warrant to conduct a search of his home and seize his digital equipment. After Barrie’s ICEU officers analyzed the devices, the man was charged with two crimes — accessing and possessing child pornography. If found guilty, he faces between one and ten years in prison.

Founded in 2015, Discord is a platform that allows users to communicate with one another using instant messages or through voice or video calls. Conversations may be held or public message boards accessible to any of its 150 million monthly users or on private channels.

According to the tech company’s rules, children over the age of 13 may open an account. While adult users are allowed post legal pornographic material, this is only allowed on forums inaccessible to underage accounts.

Despite this, Cybertip, Canada’s national tipline for reporting the sexual exploitation of children online recently said it received more than 800 reports related to occurrences on Discord servers in 2023. It also found there was a 284 per cent increase in the number of Discord-related reports received in 2022 and 2023 as in 2020 and 2021. Many of the reports related to the violent abuse of underage users.

According to Barrie police, parents can mitigate the risks of using social media platforms like Discord by setting rules around their use. “With any internet sites, rules and guidelines must be clearly identified by parents and followed by their children,” a spokesperson for the Barrie Police Service wrote in a statement provided to the Barrie Compass. “Any failure by the children should be dealt with [through] the removal of internet privileges.”

Officers also say parents should never allow children unfettered access to the internet. “Parents should have computers and devices used by their children in an area that the parents can access and monitor what their children are doing. They should be supervised and no devices should ever be allowed behind a closed door.”

Not all the dangers associated with Discord can be negated by ensuring children only connect to the internet when in full-view of a parent or guardian. In August 2023, Discord went offline temporarily after data from more than 750,000 of its users was stolen and put up for auction online.

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Each charge relates to incidents that occurred at a Circle K located on the northeast corner of Anne Street North and Dunlop Street West. The alleged perpetrator is a 41-year-old person without a fixed address who police describe as a “habitual offender.”

According to Barrie Police, the man has received seven charges of theft under $5,000, as well as a slew of corollary charges. During the second-most recent incident, which occurred on Monday evening, he was also charged with failing to comply with an undertaking as well as failing to comply with a probation order. After being released from custody on Tuesday morning, he made a seventh attempt to steal from the store before being arrested again.

The owner, who declined to comment on the story, wasn’t the only downtown proprietor to turn to the police for help dealing with unruly behaviour this week. During the early hours of Friday, police were summoned to the nearby Dunlop Convenience Centre regarding an SUV that had driven through its front window.

Responding officers also discovered the collision had caused structural damage. According to a one shop employee, who had not witnessed the incident, the damage to the shop is severe and extensive.

The driver, a 34-year-old male Barrie resident, was found behind the wheel in a befuddled state. A breathalyzer test was administered at the police station following his arrest. It found his blood-alcohol concentration to be above 0.23, close to three times the legal limit. As a result, his vehicle has been impounded for a week and his driver’s license suspended for 90 days.

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On Tuesday afternoon, the man was walking through the area with three adult family members when a 30-year-old male approached the group while yelling incoherently.

The stranger then produced a bladed weapon police describe as a large machete and began swinging it about in a violent manner. The victim, in his mid-30s, was struck in the back.

“We’re very thankful that he was wearing a heavier coat that protected him somewhat, though he did receive a minor injury,” a police spokesperson told the Barrie Compass.

In the aftermath, two of the victims family members jumped into action. “They pinned [the assailant] to the ground and were able to subdue him until police arrived.”

The perpetrator was then taken to  police headquarters where he was charged with assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

According to police, the attacker had no fixed address and had been living in the area.

While Police did not discuss the motive for the attack, the spokesperson dismissed the notion there had been murderous intent.

“There were some underlying issues with the individual and his personal well-being that factored in [to his actions].”

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