The area behind Bell's Point Elementary School where a sexual assault allegedly took place. (Derek Cornet/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

‘I couldn’t breathe for like four minutes,’ sexual assault victim recalls

Jun 26, 2019 | 1:44 PM

A woman who claims she was sexually assaulted in an area near Bell’s Point Elementary School on the Lac La Ronge Indian Band, is speaking out with the hope it will help police find her attacker.

The young mother, who requested paNOW not publish her name, said around 10 p.m. last Thursday night, she was walking along the road known as the “long stretch” when a man emerged from the nearby bush.

“I tried walking faster and he came running and he grabbed me,” she said.

The woman said the man dragged her deep into the woods. When she attempted to get away, the man responded by kicking her in the ribs.

“I couldn’t breathe for like four minutes,” she said. “I was yelling at him and he told me to be quiet and I just kept on fighting him.”

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The woman said she suffered multiple bruises and scratches and does not know her attacker. She could only recall he was wearing dark jeans, steel toe boots, an AC/DC shirt ripped on the collar, and had a lot of pimples on his face.

“I scratched up his face pretty good too,” she said. “That’s why I wanted for [the story to go on paNOW], before the scratches go away.”

The woman escaped and made it to the nearby Bell’s Point Elementary School, where the back door of the school had been left open a crack.

Norman Mackenzie patrols the school grounds each night from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m.

“I left one of the gym doors open because on my little breaks, sometimes I shoot some basketball just to keep fit,” he said.

Mackenzie recalled he heard a voice and found the woman standing near the gym. He said he tried his best to reassure her that she was safe and invited her to sit down.

“I just thought she got into a fight because she looked pretty rough,” he said adding he could see some blood, the woman’s shirt was ripped, and she was not wearing any shoes.

Soon after, Mackenzie called the police and ambulance. He said the area where the woman was grabbed is very dark.

“I talked to my supervisors and told them the school needs to put some lights back there because this could happen again,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Saskatchewan RCMP told paNOW they could not confirm nor deny whether there was an active investigation, adding in accordance with the Privacy Act, RCMP could only discuss investigations once charges had been laid.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell