A Thamesford man accused of choking a woman in the sex trade a day before he was arrested for a downtown car fire is back on the streets.
As a safety precaution, London police are advising the public that William Louis McDonald was released from their custody on Monday.
The 28-year-old Caucasian man was charged with sexual assault and attempting to choke a person to overcome resistance after an incident at a London motel on January 16. The following day McDonald was arrested by police for an unrelated car fire on Dundas St., near Wellington St.
According to police, two men were in the vehicle when one allegedly set it on fire. The flames spread to the men’s clothing before they were able to escape. Both were taken to hospital in critical condition. The day after the blaze, McDonald was charged with arson causing bodily harm, aggravated assault, and breach of a recognizance.
Police reached out to agencies that work with women in the sex trade about this case last month.
The move to notify the public about the release of an individual accused of this type of attack against a sex trade worker comes in the wake of the murder of Joise Glenn. The 26-year-old body rub parlour employee's remains were found last October. The man charged in her death had previously been charged with assaulting a woman and sexually assaulting, choking, and forcibly confining another woman in two separate incidents. At the time, police came under fire for not issuing a warning about the man.