Police seek victims amid sexual assault investigation

A Thunder Bay man is in custody, and police continue to seek victims connected to an ongoing sexual assault investigation.

Members of the Thunder Bay Police Service’s Major Crimes Unit were reviewing digital evidence in relation to an ongoing, and unrelated, case when they learned of an incident of sexual assault involving an unconscious female victim.

Further investigation revealed there were multiple victims of sexual assault. As a result of continued investigation, some of those victims have been identified. However, there are still victims who remain unidentified.

The Thunder Bay Police Service is requesting that anyone who believes they may have been assaulted by Douglas NILES, to come forward and speak to a Major Crimes Unit investigator by calling the non-emergency line at (807) 684-1200.

In the morning hours of Tuesday, June 20, members of the Major Crimes Unit, Cyber Crime Unit and Community Oriented Response and Engagement (CORE) Unit, executed a search warrant at a residential address in the zero-to-100 block of Bendell Street.

The accused was located, taken into custody and transported to the TBPS headquarters at 1200 Balmoral Street.

Police seized multiple firearms and a quantity of suspected cocaine as a result of the search.

Douglas George NILES, 51, of Thunder Bay, is charged with:

• Sexual Assault x 2
• Voyeurism x 2
• Sexual Interference
• Sexual Exploitation
• Uttering Threats – Death or Bodily Harm
• Invitation to Sexual Touching Under 16
• Overcome Resistance by Attempting to Choke, Suffocate or Strangle another Person
• Possession of Child Pornography
• Unauthorized Possession of a Weapon x 4
• Careless Storage of a Firearm x 4
• Knowledge of Unauthorized Possession of a Weapon x 3
• Tampering with Serial Number of a Firearm
• Possession of Cocaine

He is expected to appear in bail court in Thunder Bay on Wednesday, June 21 and was remanded into custody with a future appearance date.