Chained-teen case suspect 'disoriented' before arrest
Police looking for 2003 grey Hyundai Elantra with Nova Scotia plates
CBC News
Posted: Oct 1, 2012 8:03 AM ET
Last Updated: Oct 1, 2012 5:08 PM ET
Related
Related Stories
The man who found one of the two men accused of forcibly confining and sexually assaulting a teenage boy says he appeared to be disoriented on a remote logging road in northern Ontario.
Ontario Provincial Police said David James Leblanc, 47, was arrested Sunday evening when officers responded to reports of a man in distress near Longlac, about 260 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.
Stephane Garon was returning from a camping trip with his wife, when they spotted a man walking barefoot on the trail.
Garon said when he stopped to see if the man needed help, he noticed his face was full of scratches and he was disheveled
"We asked, 'Where are you from? Where's your truck? What happened?' And he kept saying he didn't know. So we gave him a bit of water, I was going to help him out because I didn't know who he was. My wife said, 'No, no, no. 'We'll get cell range and we'll call the police,'" said Garon.
He said they met police where the logging road meets the highway and told them where to go.
It wasn't until this morning when they saw news reports that he realized the man was wanted in Nova Scotia for forcible confinement and sexual assault.
Police say Leblanc will make an appearance Monday at a Thunder Bay court via video from the Greenstone OPP detachment. It will be up to RCMP in Nova Scotia to determine when Leblanc will be transported to that province.
"He was just wandering along the road. He appeared to be somewhat distressed from the elements. He wasn't dressed to be out in the kind of temperatures we have this time of year," said Staff Sgt. Carl Pettigrew.
Garon said there was no sign of Leblanc's co-accused and longtime partner Wayne Alan Cunningham, 31, or the 2003 Hyundai they were supposed to be driving.
Police believe Cunningham is still operating a grey-colored 2003 Hyundai Elantra with Nova Scotia licence plate FBP-233, and that he could be headed to Calgary.
A woman who knows Cunningham told CBC News the police should be on alert because he often passes himself off as a female. Anna Leblanc said Cunningham is very convincing as a woman and is known for telling people he's 19 or 20 years old.
Leblanc's relatives said they're glad he was arrested.
Jessica Clattenburg, Leblanc's niece, told CBC News her uncle stopped by the family house in Liverpool, N.S., last week to ask for $20 for gas.
"We would've thought that he would've just stayed local.… I don't know how he would've gotten the money to get that far," she said.
"I'm just glad that they caught him."
Teen in chains walked for help
Police say the two men held a 16-year-old boy in a Nova Scotia home for about two weeks in Upper Chelsea, Lunenburg County.
The teen escaped from the house and walked more than one kilometre to another home to ask for help.
Wayne Alan Cunningham, left, 31, and David James Leblanc, 47, are facing forcible confinement and sexual assault charges. Leblanc was arrested Sunday; Cunningham is still at large. (RCMP)The teen had chains wrapped around his wrists and ankles and was wearing nothing but a hooded sweatshirt and a hat when he arrived on Terry Frauzel's doorstep.
Frauzel told CBC News he cut the chains off the boy and drove him to a house in Bridgewater. The teen was later treated in hospital and police say he is now safe.
The search for Leblanc and Cunningham began after the two men were charged on Sept. 26.
Last week, the family of Leblanc issued a public plea for the suspect to turn himself in.
According to relatives of Leblanc, he and Cunningham have been in a common-law relationship for more than a decade.
Leblanc also faces charges from a separate case of making and distributing child pornography. He's also charged with sexual assault and sexual interference involving two young boys.
Cunningham also has a criminal record. He was convicted of several crimes including theft and breaking and entering after a 2006 incident in which Leblanc was also convicted.
Share Tools
Latest Ottawa News Headlines
- 1st-degree murder charge laid in Michael Wassill death
- A 20-year-old Ottawa man is once again facing an upgraded murder charge in the death of Michael Wassill, 21, who was stabbed in the neck while his family said he was protecting a friend. more »
- New trial in fatal Rideau Centre hit-and-run
- The Ontario Court of Appeal has ordered a new trial in the case of Vlad Precup, who was originally sentenced to two years less a day in June 2011 for the hit-and-run death of a homeless man. more »
- Woman's basement sprayed with raw sewage
- An Ottawa homeowner says she got little help after city workers flooded her basement with raw sewage last week. more »
- Friend's favour turns into 2 bad breaks
- A man suffered serious fractures to both legs after he fell seven metres off a roof in Russell, just south of Ottawa, while helping his friend re-shingle the roof. more »
Must Watch
Top News Headlines
- Obesity now recognized as a disease
- The American Medical Association has voted to recognize obesity as a disease, while doctors in Canada say they also treat it as such. more »
- Neil Macdonald: Washington's obsession with leakers
- Julian Assange and Edward Snowden are just the most prominent targets in an all-out legal and propaganda campaign that America's security apparatus is mounting against leakers everywhere, Neil Macdonald writes. more »
- Caregiving dads stigmatized at work suggests UofT study
- Fathers who participate in child rearing and housework are likely to be labeled slackers and "failed men" at work, according to a study spearheaded by researchers at the University of Toronto and Long Island University. Are active dads the norm at your workplace? more »
- Dozens of children seized from Manitoba Mennonite community
- Child welfare authorities have removed all but one child from a small Mennonite community in rural Manitoba. more »
Most Viewed/Commented
- Friend's favour turns into 2 bad broken legs
- Minor hockey players reflect on career-ending concussions
- Gatineau promotes itself with free shuttle service
- Tory MP fined $155 for driving through Hill security stop
- Mike Fisher, Carrie Underwood selling Ottawa dream home
- Bob Rae quits as MP in 'very emotional' decision
- Canadian border agents being impersonated in phone scam
- Sharlene Bosma speaks out about husband's murder
- The Spartan Race in 90 seconds

