Montreal police have honoured a 17-year-old girl for assisting them in catching a suspected sexual predator who allegedly tried to take her photo in a women’s washroom stall.
According to police, Livia Roderigues recently visited the washroom at the gym where she works in Lachine, a borough of Montreal, when she noticed a hand holding a cellphone poking out from under one of the stalls.
The teenager immediately reacted by grabbing the cellphone from the hand and running towards the door, police said in a press release. A man hiding inside of the stall revealed himself and tried to convince Roderigues to return his phone to him.
When the girl refused, police said the man, who was much larger than the teenager, blocked her path.
Police said Roderigues pushed the man out of the way and ran out of the bathroom. She immediately called 911 and officers were able to arrest the suspect, police said.
In recognition of her bravery, the Montreal police department’s Sexual Exploitation – Child Pornography and Luring Division presented Roderigues with a certificate of acknowledgement.
“The SPVM wants to highlight her exemplary courage and self-control, which allowed for the preservation of evidence that was essential to the laying of charges, in addition to allowing for the identification and arrest of this sexual predator,” the police said in a press release.