Ontario Provincial Police say a British Columbia man has been charged in connection with a series of violent sexual assaults that happened nearly three decades ago across southwestern Ontario.
The OPP said Wednesday that Project Aerial, a multi-jurisdictional investigation launched with Sarnia Police, led to the arrest of Jason Timothy Davidson, 52, of Campbell River, B.C.
Davidson is facing 15 charges, including aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping, forcible confinement, and uttering threats.
Police said four separate assaults took place between March and August 1997 in Lambton County, Kent County and the City of Sarnia. Three of the four victims were minors at the time.
Details of the assaults
According to police, the first assault happened on March 26, 1997, when a teenage girl was abducted in Sarnia near Exmouth Street and Indian Road. She was driven to a rural area in Sombra Township and sexually assaulted before the suspect fled.
A second assault occurred on May 23, 1997, near Highway 21 in Thamesville. Another teenage girl was picked up by an unknown man driving a light blue or grey two-door vehicle and taken to a wooded area where she was assaulted.
The third reported assault happened on June 7, 1997, when an adult woman was walking along Campbell Street in Sarnia around 2 a.m. Police said a man driving a red vehicle picked her up, took her to a remote area and sexually assaulted her.
The fourth incident occurred on August 20, 1997, when a young girl was abducted while walking on Grand Avenue West in Chatham. She was taken to Dover Township, Kent County, where she was sexually assaulted before being left at the scene.
In all four cases, police said the suspect drove away after the assaults, leaving each victim behind.
Decades of investigation
Detective Inspector Michael Moore, who managed Project Aerial for the OPP’s Criminal Investigation Branch, said the cases were initially investigated separately by local police before similarities began to emerge.
“It did not take long before investigators noticed the similarities in the attacks and the suspect descriptions,” Moore said. “In each case, the assailant used a vehicle to transport the victims to a remote location, committed the sexual assault, and drove away, leaving the victims at the site of each attack.”
He said the assailant was described as a white man in his 30s, around 5-foot-8 or taller, with medium brown hair, a mustache, and a distinct nose.
Moore said that while early DNA work linked two of the assaults, investigators always believed all four were connected.
“Despite extensive investigative work and repeated public appeals, the cases remained unsolved until this year,” Moore said. “Advancements in DNA technology and resulting forensic analysis linked all four assaults to the same individual.”
Investigators said DNA evidence linked the attacks to one suspect, but the person’s identity remained unknown for years. In 2024, new forensic techniques, including investigative genetic genealogy, helped identify a suspect.
Davidson was arrested in Campbell River on Sunday with the help of the RCMP and the Vancouver Police, and later returned to Ontario.
“This arrest marks a major breakthrough in a decades-old investigation,” Moore said.
“While we know nothing can erase the pain these survivors have endured, we hope these charges bring some measure of resolution to them and their families.”
“This arrest reflects decades of persistence and commitment,” said OPP Deputy Commissioner Marty Kearns, adding that the breakthrough “reinforces our commitment to delivering answers and supporting victims.”
Davidson remains in custody and is scheduled to appear in court in Chatham on Wednesday.
