A 17-year-old has been charged with attempted murder and sexual assault in connection with an attack on a young girl in Quadeville, Ont., that provincial police initially said was likely caused by an animal.
The eight-year-old girl had been missing for hours when she was found around 12:30 a.m. on June 25 with potentially life-threatening injuries in the woods in the village roughly 60 kilometres southwest of Renfrew.
At the time, police said they suspected an animal attack had led to the girl’s injuries.
In a news release Wednesday night, OPP said they had charged a teenage male from eastern Ontario with attempted murder and sexual assault with a weapon on a person under 16 years old.
Because of the youth’s age, they cannot be named. The young girl remains in hospital, OPP said Wednesday night.
In its news release, OPP said that while early evidence suggested an animal was to blame for the girl’s injuries, investigators did not rule out human involvement.
The police force had been consulting both the Ministry of Natural Resources and experts in animal attacks as it delved into what had happened.
“To aid in the investigation, multiple pathology experts were consulted,” spokesperson Bill Dickson wrote Wednesday. “While the incident is still under investigation, recent testing of samples taken from the victim’s wounds has now revealed no traces of animal DNA.”
In the wake of the attack, people in and around the small Ottawa Valley community expressed concerns about their safety, with some telling CBC that the lack of information was causing rumours to spread.
OPP said they would be holding a meeting in Quadeville on Saturday to address questions and worries that residents might have.
Dozens of local community members searched for the young girl after she was reported missing at around 9 p.m. on June 24.
After several hours, she was found in a forested area behind homes located on Quadeville Road. She was first taken to hospital in Barry’s Bay before being airlifted to CHEO, the children’s hospital in Ottawa.
At the time, the Ornge ambulance service confirmed they had “transported a pediatric patient to CHEO with critical injuries relating to an animal attack.”
Joseph Fiorentino, the pastor of Quadeville Pentecostal Church, previously told CBC that he’d been informed by a doctor that it was “a miracle she was alive.”
