Girl sxually assaulted during school trip to park

Police are trying to find the suspect that sexually assaulted a 7-year-old girl during a school outing in Scarborough. The girl was with her class in the Livingston Rd. and Guildwood Parkway area at about 1:30 p.m. Friday when she was approached by a man and sexually assaulted. Police say the assault happened despite the fact that there was an adult presence. The adult was with the group but did not realize the assault had taken place. The suspect was later seen walking southbound on Livingston Rd. “Obviously the fact that it’s alleged that a man approached a group of children in the company of an adult and was able to do this is quite brazen,” said Toronto police Const. Wendy Drummond. The suspect is described as "a white male aged 40 to 50, standing six foot to six-foot-four, with a medium build, balding with short grey hair and brown eyes." He was wearing a blue nylon coat with a hood, faded blue jeans and brown, construction-style boots. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 416-808-7474 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-8477.

I feel extremely terrible that something like this could happen, not to mention it was in the middle of the day with many people around, including an adult. Teachers need to watch their students as closely as possible, and obviously, this teacher was not doing their job. If I was a teacher, I would not let my 7-year old students leave a 5 metre distance from me. Child protection has to be the first priority when leaving a school, but this was not the case in this scenario. My condolences are towards the girl's family and friends.

Toronto 18 ringleader apologizes at sentencing hearing

The ringleader of a deadly plot that was supposed to cripple the economy and unleash a high spread massacre in downtown Toronto says he is "regretful and sorry" and wants the opportunity "to pay the moral debt I owe." "I will turn myself around from a man of destruction to a man of construction," said Zakaria Amara, the leader of the Toronto 18 homegrown terror cell, in a court in Brampton during his sentencing hearing Thursday. The Crown is seeking a sentence of life in prison, while the defence is asking for a range of 18 to 20 years in the sentence. Amara addressed the court claiming he had been led "down the path of extremism" and "locked in an ideolgical position," which he now admits was very wrong. The 24-year-old Mississauga man said that after his arrest in the summer of 2006, he spent three years in isolation, during which time he continued to accept and promote extremist views because there was "no one to shed light on the blind spots."

I think that the only possible option is to give this horrible person a lifetime sentence. Someone would have done this much damage should not be given a second chance. Anyone in his situation would obviously be saying the same thing that he is, and the judicial system should not think twice about giving him what he deserves - a life sentence. I cannot imagine how much damage this person would have done, if his plan went through.

H1N1 ruled out in Durham child deaths

Two autopsies have been completed on children who died in a within a day of eachother in Durham region. While the causes of the deaths have not been released, neither appears to be related to H1N1. Durham Regional Police have investigated both cases. Lakeridge Health made a statement Thursday evening, in response to a media report, indicating two pediatric patients who were "not actively treated at Lakeridge Health" had died recently. Due to privacy issues, the hospital would not release any more information, including the ages of the children, the symptoms they showed or even which Lakeridge site the children had been taken to. Lakeridge did indicate that under such circumstances, autopsies are generally done. Those autopsies were completed Thursday, said Dr. William Lucas, the regional supervising with responsibility for Durham. "The two deaths are not related in any way, shape or form," he said, noting the children had neither a familial relationship or, it appears, the same cause of death. Not only that, but "they're not looking like they're in any way related to H1N1." Flu has been ruled out in one case, and in the other, pathologists are awaiting final test results to officially rule out H1N1. "But, appearances suggest it does not look like it's going in that direction," Dr. Lucas said. The cause of death has been determined for one child, but citing privacy reasons, the coroner's office could not release that information. Police usually investigate in the case of any sudden or unexpected death.

I feel terribly for the families that have lost these two children. I cannot imagine how it would feel to lose a child. Having this information leaked that the children did not have H1N1 will likely give some parents the comfort that children are not getting severly sick from the swine flu. I think that many people are going to start caring less and less about the topic and within a month, no one will be talking about it at all. I think it is good that the doctores didn't give out too much information about these children, because that is how rumors start from people and then familes get calls about things that are not true.

Blowing snow to hamper afternoon commute

Drivers heading west during Thursday afternoon's commute should be prepared for white-out conditions, as a gusting winds and light snow will combine to reduce visibility in parts of the GTA. "A lot of snow is just kind of sitting there," said Environment Canada meteorologist Geoff Coulson, after explaining that Wednesday's frozen rain-snow slush mixture has given us a hard crust that fresh snow is not sticking to. "Any loose snow that has fallen recently could very be whipped up by the wind and produce those local poor visibilities." Coulson noted that blowing snow will be a factor for commuters in all regions of the GTA, Peel and southern parts of Halton region like Burlington and Oakville, are expected to get the worst of it. Flurries and strong winds, with gusts around 60 km/h, are expected to last until Friday. There is an expected drop of temperature throughout the day, with the coldest spots of the GTA feeling like 20C with the wind chill. Though Toronto is already experiencing an "abnormal temperature trend," said Coulson, those cold temperatures are only going to get colder. A cold air mass is heading to Toronto from northwestern Ontario, where temperatures today are as cold as 25 C. The cold air is expected to hit the GTA tomorrow, though it will have warmed up significantly, with a day time high expected of 4 C.


I think do not think that people should be worrying about the snow as much as they currently are. Yes, the snow causes for the roads to become more slippery, but with the availability of snow tires, drivers should not be as paranoid about the icy roads. In my opinion, all car companies should give snow tires with each car, or at least a much lower price. There would be a huge decrease in accidents, and there would be more purchases for these tires if they still cost money. I know that when I start driving, I will only be driving in the winter, if my car has winter tires.