NEWS HANDOUT COURTESY MHPS Police have charged 53-year-old Claudio Tovar-Aguilar with additional offences related to allegedly drugging women to sexually assault them. He was initially arrested in December after an incident at the teepee.
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A man arrested in December for allegedly attempting to drug a woman and sexually assault her at Saamis Tepee has been arrested again on similar charges stemming from two separate incidents.
Claudio Tovar-Aguilar, 53, is alleged to have drugged and committed sexual assault against two women on July 13 and one on Dec. 15, where he allegedly drugged and held a woman against her will less than a week prior to the initial charges.
He now faces two charges of sexual assault, one of attempted sexual assault, three of administering an overpowering drug to commit an indictable offence and one of unlawful confinement, in addition to the initial charges of attempted sexual assault, administering an overpowering drug to commit an offence, unlawful confinement and possession of a controlled substance.
Acting Major Crimes Unit Staff Sgt. Adam Gregory told the News that police released a photo of Tovar-Aguilar after his December arrest because they suspected there could be other victims.
“As of that initial investigation that led to charges, at that point there was a media release and we asked for any other victims, or anybody else with information, who could assist in this investigation to come forward,” he said. “The police continued that investigation and it resulted in at least two other offence dates with three other persons.”
The initial charges against him – laid on Dec. 21 – were the product of an investigation that led cops to the teepee, where they saw Tovar-Aguilar attempt to force a woman into his car.
Upon searching his vehicle, they found what appeared to be GHB, a known “date rape drug,” police said at the time.
Gregory noted that the charges of administering an overpowering substance “doesn’t have to be specific to a certain kind of drug.”
Tovar-Aguilar has been remanded into custody and is scheduled to appear in court today.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone who believes they have been victimized by the accused, or knows someone who has, is urged to contact the MHPS at 403-529-8481 to report it.
