Richard Neil found guilty in 'woodland rapist' case

Anything you'd like to say today, Mr. Neal? A jury has found that man in the sunglasses is the Southern Ontario sex predator known as the Woodland Rapist, hunted by police for three decades. After a five-week trial, jurors swiftly found Richard Neal guilty of kidnapping, sexual assault, and 15 other charges. Prosecutors said back in the 90s, Neal terrorized children, luring them into wooded areas in parks like this one. Using underwear as a mask to sexually assault one victim, making her drink his urine out of this bottle. It obviously unnerved parents. It made everyone question. It took away that feeling of comfort, security and safety. First, it was an 8-year-old boy attacked in Kitchener, then a 10-year-old boy in Brampton, and finally a 15-year-old girl in Oakville. In 1995, officers handed out this composite sketch of the unidentified suspect, the image based on descriptions provided by the victims, like this boy who said the attacker was about this tall. He put those young victims through a lot of terrible, terrible incidents. Only got away with it for 30 years, but the long arm of the law has finally caught up with him. We can't tell you enough about how we have to get this person off the street. Investigators painstakingly considered hundreds of potential suspects over the years to no avail. Neal was finally arrested in 2024, identified through genetic genealogy. Police saying there could be more victims. He sincerely wishes... Obviously, none of this had happened to any of them. Two sources told CBC News a break in the case finally came when a relative submitted their DNA profile to an ancestry-type website, unknowingly leading investigators to Neal and putting an end to a three-decade-long manhunt. Thomas Dagg, CBC News, Brampton, Ontario.