A 16-year-old boy arrested on Sunday following a violent incident at an unsanctioned grad party organized by North Vancouver teens is now facing an additional charge.
The teen – who was taken into custody Feb. 28 following an alleged attack at a downtown dance club – already faces charges of aggravated sexual assault and unlawful confinement against a teenaged girl in connection to that incident at the Encore Dance Club. He has now been charged with an additional count of sexual assault against a second girl. That assault is alleged to have happened in October in North Vancouver.
The boy made a brief appearance in Vancouver youth court Wednesday afternoon and remains in custody. A bail hearing is scheduled for March 9.
Outside the court, Crown counsel Linda Selbie MacDonald said it’s too early to say if she’ll be asking the judge to keep the youth in custody.
The youth has not entered a plea and none of the charges have been proven in court.
Selbie MacDonald said if the teen is found guilty, it’s possible she will ask the court to sentence him as an adult. That only happens in rare cases, she said outside the court. “It’s reserved for very serious offences.”
Police were called to the Encore Dance Club on Granville Street shortly after 11 p.m. Sunday night after receiving word that a teenage girl had been violently assaulted.
She was taken to hospital by ambulance and has since been released. It’s unclear how the incident started.
Police arrested the 16-year-old boy at the scene.
Const. Brian Montague of the Vancouver Police Department said police spoke to a number of witnesses at the event and are examining video surveillance footage.
The violent incident happened at a private grad party apparently organized by North Vancouver high school students. No liquor was served at the event, but “in many of these cases where we have grad parties, it’s very difficult to prevent people from drinking beforehand,” said Montague.
Deneka Michaud, spokeswoman for the North Vancouver School District, said the event at the downtown dance club was “not a school sanctioned event.”
Police have not released information about the incident that led to the second charge of sexual assault.
