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Police look for links between sex offender and UBC assaults

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Police say they will be looking into any links between a convicted sex offender arrested Saturday at UBC and sexual assault cases on the Point Grey campus. 

Jason Anthony White, 45, was arrested at a construction site on campus early Saturday morning, several hours after a year-end block party attended by thousands of students at nearby Thunderbird Stadium concluded.  

There are no definitive indications that White is linked to ongoing cases on campus, said police, but they will still be taking a closer look at White’s whereabouts in recent weeks and months. 

“He’s definitely someone who we are going to be looking at for other things in Vancouver and other jurisdictions,” said Const. Brian Montague of the Vancouver Police Department. However, Montague added, “We know there’s more than one offender committing these crimes in the Lower Mainland.” 

White, who was wanted for breaching a supervision order, was tracked by officers and canine units to UBC, where he was spotted near 16th Avenue and Wesbrook Mall. Officers then lost sight of him and started searching a construction site, where he was found and arrested around 3:30 a.m. 

Montague said it appeared White knew police were after him and was trying to evade arrest. It is not known what he was doing on the campus, where a number of suspicious incidents occurred in March. 

On March 25, a 20-year-old student was sexually assaulted by a stranger in the 3200-block Wesbrook Mall. Police had said the incident may have been related to a series of earlier “prowler events” in which a man was spotted lurking near student residences. 

Sgt. Annie Linteau of B.C. RCMP said it’s too early to tell whether White is linked to the campus incidents. “We’re exploring all possibilities,” Linteau said. 

White, also known as Jason Eugene Rindero, was convicted in the robbery and sexual assault of a 74-year-old woman in Nanaimo in 1994. He was declared a dangerous offender in 2002. The designation was lifted following an appeal. White has been living at a Vancouver halfway house since 2013.

Police say he is a person of interest in an attempted home invasion Thursday night in the area of Cambie and West 45th Avenue, where a man tried to force his way into the dwelling of an 86-year-old woman. He remains in custody. 

chchan@theprovince.com

twitter.com/cherylchan 

 


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