Vancouver: Don’t Know If Sexual Assault Suspect Is M or F Despite Having Semen Evidence

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The Metro Vancouver Transit Police say they “don’t know” if the primary suspect in a skytrain sexual assault is male or female despite having recovered semen during the investigation.

On February 8, the Transit Police issued a press release pleading for help to identify the suspect. While photos and videos showed what appeared to be a male with long hair, some basic information on the suspect was curiously omitted from the release. No pronouns were used, and no information on the suspect’s sex was included.

In a recorded phone call with journalist Amy Hamm, Constable Amanda Steed said the information had been intentionally left out because the Transit Police were unsure of how to refer to the suspect.

“We’ve left it out for a reason; it’s because we don’t know. The video evidence shows someone who… would appear female, who is female presenting, but the physical evidence is that of a genetic male,” Steed said. She later confirmed in an email to Reduxx that the physical evidence is in fact the suspect’s semen.

Despite claiming that the Transit Police “didn’t know” what the sex of the suspect was, Steed admitted that they “believe” he has a penis.

“The suspect we believe does have a penis,” said Steed, when asked if the victim was raped. “But the video shows someone who appears to be female presenting, so that’s why we left the gender out. Because we weren’t really sure how this person identifies—we didn’t want to get it wrong.”

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