The Toronto Police Service is updating the public on a Suspicious Incident investigation.
On Friday, May 30, 2025, at approximately 12:15 p.m., police responded to a call for Suspicious Incident at Earlscourt Park in the St Clair Avenue and Caledonia Road area.
It is reported that:
there was an elementary school soccer tournament taking place in the area
a man approached a child and picked them up and placed them on his shoulders
the child’s mother confronted the man and he put the child down
the man was then observed filming the children on his phone, then asking the children their names, ages, phone numbers and address
the man also was observed standing near the playground committing an indecent act
the man then approached another child, grabbed them by the arm and asked the child to come with him, but the child broke away from the man and ran away
the man fled the area in an unknown direction
Leandro De Souza Barbosa, 35, of Toronto, was arrested and charged with:
two counts of Assault
Indecent Act
He is scheduled to appear in court at the Toronto Regional Bail Centre, 221 Finch Avenue West, on Sunday, June 1, 2025, at 10 a.m., in room 105.
Police are concerned there may be more victims.
An image has been released.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-3100, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or at www.222tips.com.
ORIGINAL:
Toronto police are investigating what they describe as a “suspicious incident” involving a man who allegedly approached and grabbed children during a school soccer tournament in Earlscourt Park.
Officers say the incident happened on Friday when they were called to the area of St. Clair Avenue West and Caledonia Road just after 12 p.m.
Police say a man allegedly picked up a child and placed them on his shoulders. When confronted by the child’s mother, the man reportedly put the child down.
He was later seen filming children on his phone and asking them for their names, ages, phone numbers and addresses, police say.
Investigators say the man was also spotted near a playground committing an indecent act, and at one point grabbed another child by the arm and asked them to come with him. That child was able to break free and run away.
The man fled the area and has not yet been located.
The man, who was not named by police, is described as five-foot-eight, 30 to 40 years old, with a slim build.
“He was last seen wearing blue jeans and a cream and pink coloured shirt,” police wrote in a news release.
Anyone with information is asked to come forward and contact Toronto police at 416-808-1300. Anonymous tips can also be provided through Crime Stoppers.
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