Winnipeg police are looking for a man in his 20s after he groped three Health Sciences Centre employees in what they call a traumatizing attack.

The three women had parked their vehicles and were walking to work Monday morning when they were each separately attacked from behind and groped.

"These are despicable acts and our investigators are working towards identifying the person responsible for this," Const. Jay Murray said Tuesday. "I don't want to downplay the seriousness or minimize these offences.

"When I use the word despicable, I use it for a reason."

Winnipeg Police Service Const. Jay Murray calls the series of incidents traumatizing for the three victims. (CBC)

The first sexual assault happened at 7:10 a.m., followed by a second attack at 8:20 a.m. and a third at 8:45 a.m. Two of those attacks happened in a small park near the hospital between McGee and Victor streets and Notre Dame Avenue, while another happened near the hospital's parkade.

"They range in age from 21 to 44, again, I believe all three of them worked at the hospital, so I'm not sure if they would have been wearing scrubs or not, if they were nurses, but right now we believe three adult females between the age of 21 and 44."

A University of Manitoba spokesperson said the Winnipeg Police Service informed the university one of the victims is a student.

'Don't know what else I can do': student

Valerie Esperanzate works at the hospital. She says a young woman came in crying yesterday, saying she'd been groped. Esperanzate said she did her best to comfort the woman.

Valerie Esperanzate says a woman came into the HSC yesterday saying she had been groped near a parking lot. (Holly Caruk / CBC) "I didn't want to get into detail because it was none of my business, but I'm pretty sure that with the way that she was shaking, you know, it's emotional for anybody to touch you or whatever they're doing," Esperanzate said.





"I'll definitely call Safewalk now when I'm walking back to the car in the evening but since this happened in the morning, I really don't know what else I can do, especially when I park right here." Wajihah Mughal is a student at the University of Manitoba's Health Sciences campus. She says the assaults have left her feeling less safe. (Holly Caruk / CBC) Wajihah Mughal is a PhD student who parks in the area every day. She said she was shocked to hear the assaults happened at a very busy time, in a place where she normally feels safe."I'll definitely call Safewalk now when I'm walking back to the car in the evening but since this happened in the morning, I really don't know what else I can do, especially when I park right here."

Murray said he didn't want to give too much information about the attack as the man responsible has yet to be caught. But he said the attacks left all three women shaken.

"Traumatized — I believe all three females felt that way. Just reading reports, and when investigators talked to them, they were very shaken up and traumatized by the incident.

"These three women are going to probably remember what happened for a long time, unfortunately. It's just very tough to give you an accurate answer there without getting too far into it."

Video camera footage is being sought and will play a key role in identifying the man, he said.

Hospital, university warn community members

"[Security] patrols in the areas of the campus surrounding Notre Dame [Avenue] and Emily [Street] were increased as a result," a spokesperson for the HSC told CBC in an email.



"We do our best to provide and support a safe environment, while also balancing the need to provide easy access to our facilities for care. We will continue to do so, and provide staff with information and tools they need to help protect themselves."

"As a community, we hope the women are doing well," a U of M spokesperson said in an email. "A notification of the incidents, including useful safety precautions, was issued via email to all students and all staff and posted this afternoon on the University of Manitoba news site."