The owner of a property outside Calgary where alleged sexual assaults took place said the tenant was “looking for a fight”

The owner of a property where a man allegedly confined and sexually assaulted women described him Friday as a man with two sides: one kind and polite, the other sinister.

Meanwhile, one activist says predators have been able to use the streets as “hunting grounds” due to a lack of accountability in the justice system and distrust of the police by women working in the sex trade. .

Richard Robert Mantha, 59, is accused of confining, drugging and sexually assaulting three women in the Calgary area. Police allege Mantha approached women working in the sex trade, drugged them and took them to a rural property in eastern Calgary, where they were physically and sexually assaulted.

Mantha faces a total of 16 charges, including kidnapping, sexual assault, forcible confinement and assault with a weapon.

The crimes are alleged to have occurred between December 2021 and March 2023.

Police have not announced any further charges against Mantha, but said they are not ruling anything out and the investigation is ongoing.

Experts and advocates say the case highlights the vulnerability of women in the sex trade and raises questions about communication and coordination between police services, as Mantha was charged with two sex offenses about a year ago before police of Calgary to collaborate with the RCMP and establish an additional 13 charges.

Court documents show Mantha was first charged with sexual assault and battery causing bodily harm in April 2022 by the Strathmore RCMP. He failed to appear in court on March 21 and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Sometime last month, Calgary police got involved and made a connection between the same individual and alleged crimes being committed against sex workers in the city.

Strathmore RCMP first received a report of an injured female on April 22, 2022. On April 24, Mantha was arrested and released with a promise to appear in court on May 17, said Cpl. Gina Slaney with Alberta RCMP.

Between then and January 2023, the case was adjourned seven times due to problems with lawyers, he added. Mantha also had court dates in January and February, where the case was also adjourned.

On April 6, 2023, Calgary police entered a rural property on Vale View Road in eastern Calgary, where they arrested Mantha, 59, and spent nearly a week searching, including with forensic trucks and cadaver dogs.

The property owner who said Mantha was renting a storage shed on his property said the raid came as a complete surprise.

“I think we’re still in shock to be honest with you… We didn’t know anything,” said Muriel Lock, who lives there with her husband Paul.

According to Lock, Mantha did odd jobs and worked in vehicle construction and repair. She seemed to have two different sides, she said.

“For me he was kind, polite, respectful. To other men, I would say he was antagonizing, picking a fight,” Lock said.

She said that Mantha was not supposed to live on the property, but just rent a shed for storage. When confronted about it, she said that he approached her husband in a way that intimidated them.

She said that she and her husband noticed that Mantha had male and female visitors and that she would frequently drive her truck back and forth in the middle of the night. She often made a lot of noise, she added, describing him as a “hoarder.”

At some point, she said Mantha visited her mother in Quebec, but she wasn’t sure how long she had been living in Alberta.

Lock said she’s disappointed with how the case was handled — she said RCMP first showed up at her property about a year ago and handcuffed Mantha — but she doesn’t think he was arrested.

She said Mantha told her the police visit was due to a dispute she was having with one of her clients.

She said she and her husband were left “in the dark” at that time and continue to be.

“We were not allowed to know what it was about. I feel strongly that perhaps something should have been done and that this could have been prevented,” Lock said.

“The police are not telling us anything,” he added.

Lock said Friday that he had just returned from court to seek a restraining order against Mantha.

The arrest and charges did not surprise Jacquie Meyer, founder and director of his victoryan organization that helps women who want to get out of the sex trade or who have been forced into sex trafficking.

“I’ve been talking about this for a year and a half with (the police) about missing women and what’s been going on even on the walk, about women being kidnapped,” Meyer said, referring to what’s known as the “Walk Through.” prostitution” in Forest Lawn, the neighborhood where police allege Mantha stalked his victims.

Meyer said that several of the alleged victims are being supported by her organization.

“They are shocked, nervous and afraid to be here… if this man is out on bail, they are afraid to be in this community,” he said.

She said she works closely with the Calgary police, and while they support her and have increased their presence in the area, the problem is criminal accountability.

“That perpetrator came out 48 hours later, on the same hunting grounds, outside on our blocks. So he is frustrating for the police, they are doing his job, but the guilt has been very frustrating,” Meyer said.

She said she believes the three women police identified are not the only victims.

“Whether they show up, I can’t answer that, that will be up to them. But there’s more,” Meyer said.

She added that many women working in the sex trade are hesitant to report to the police, which can lead to crimes remaining in the shadows.

“The girls rarely report,” Meyer said. “There are some who definitely don’t want to go to the police for fear of their safety when reporting…some of them have their own criminal problems to deal with.”

Doug King, a professor of justice studies at Mount Royal University, said the allegations and the subsequent arrest raise a number of questions.

“Eventually, my mind went straight to the Pickton situation, because one of the problems was the lack of communication between agencies,” King said between Vancouver police and the Surrey RCMP, referring to Robert Pickton, the notorious serial killer. who confessed to killing nearly 50 people. women and bury them in and around his pig farm.

“Police have to answer the question about interagency communication,” King added. “When did they get an idea of ​​who this individual might be and were they in communication with each other back and forth? I think it’s a good question to ask, but I don’t think we should assume the collaboration didn’t happen.”

Calgary police did not respond to a request for comment for more details on how they identified Mantha as a suspect in additional crimes.

Kim Arial, a lawyer who spoke in court on Mantha’s behalf, told the Star she was unable to comment. On Friday, Arial told the court that she was having trouble contacting Mantha about the bail hearing and anticipating it from her and she asked that the matter be postponed until Tuesday.

Court records show Mantha has previously faced charges of uttering a threat, possession of stolen property and missing court appearances on numerous occasions.

Mantha’s next court appearance is Tuesday.

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