the HERALD- Communtty News Wednesday August Sex offences on the rise in Halton Hills ByLISABOONSTOPPELPOT The Herald The number of sex offences in Hills reported to Halton Regional Police during the first seven months of this year has more than doubled over last year As of July police have taken 19 sex offence reports from Halton Hills residents compared to only eight during the same time period last year In all of Halton Region 127 sex ual offences were reported to police in the first six months of this year which Is just fewer than the number of offences reported in all of 1990 More and more victims are encouraged to report sexual assaults nowadays said Detec tive Sergeant Michael Eacrett who heads the Criminal In vestigation Bureau for District l which investigates all crimes in Halton Hills and Milton With more and more informa tion in the media and more government programs address ing the issue of sex offences peo ple are being encouraged to report the assault he said Vehicles collide Two cars were severely damaged after they collided on Guelph St west of Windsor Georgetown Aug police say In their report police stated a Georgetown woman driving a Plymouth sedan was turning east onto St from a private parking when she struck a Ford van driven by a Georgetown man who was travelling east on Guelph Detective SeFgeant Bob An drews who does the actual in vestigation into reports of sexual assaults said school programs like the Good Touch Bad Touch are very helpful because they teach children to understand and report occurrences of bad touch Reports listed under sex of fences include everything from aggravated assault rape to sex ual touching involving adults and children The heading doesnt in clude sexual exploitation invita tion to sexual touching and inde cent exposure reports Del Sgt Andrews Including these types of sex offences weve actually been in volved with 72 investigations this year he said The director of the Halton Rape Crisis Centre Bev Lafrancois said shes not surprised the number of sex offence reports have more than doubled because the number of calls the centre received this year has tripled We tripled last year and we expect the number of calls to tri ple this year again she said Like Det Sgt Eacrett she believes awareness has played a large part in the increase People are now aware of our centre so Ihey where call to get help she said The police service has also become more sensitive to the issue so people arent afraid to report the of fence She said for every person who speaks out against sexual abuse and reveals whats happened to them it gives the courage for so meone else to speak out But Ms Lafrancois says the in crease in calls and reports can also be blamed on todays violent society The media is full of violence We pretty well raise our children up on violence she said Of the sexual offences reported to the Halton Regional Police 17 have been cleared where charges have been laid or the report proven unfounded giving the police an 854 per cent clearance rate In the region 90 of the sex offences have been cleared for a 708 per cent clearance rate Town at loggerheads with NEC The Herald The Town of Halton Hills faces an uphill battle in its ongoing at tempts to permit further residen tial growth in the local hamlets of and North While Town Senior Planner An drew Colley confirmed Friday the Town wants further growth in these two areas the Niagara Escarpment Commission NEC adamantly objects to the idea Currently the NEC position lakes precedent over the towns position because the two areas lie within the commissions jurisdic tion The Town has a chance to bring the hamlets under their jurisdic tion pertaining to the establish ment of new development as a result of the Commissions five- year plan review The commis sion has reviewed its plan as it does once every five yers and now the public and private sec tors have the opportunity to voice their opinions concerning- the plan During the Niagara Escarp- ment Plan hearings now going on in Burlington Mr Colley said the Town will appear at the hearing sometime this fall and urge development should be permitted in Speyside and Speyside North He wouldnt reveal any par ticulars of the Towns stance on ly to say he is optimistic the hear ing officer will side with the Town It doesnt make sense to have rural cluster small hamlet- and not be permitted to fill it out with development within confined boundaries offered Mr NEC Senior Planner Marion Plaunt said commission staff ob jects to residential growth in the two cluster areas because of en vironmental and location reasons Speyside sits on bedrock which isnt a suitable surface for a sewage system she said Even tually sewage would leak into the ground water if development happened in Speyside said Ms While Speyside Norths loca tion could accommodate a sewage system its location at 17 and Highway is in appropriate for further develop ment she said It doesnt make sense to locate development next to a provincial highway said Ms Despite not having NEC sup port the Town has Halton Regions support at least in prin ciple According to the Regional staff report on the Niagara Escarp ment Plan reveiw staff supports the expansion of existing hamlets and the creation of new hamlets in the escarpment rural area When asked specifically about the potential for growth in and Speyside North Region Planner Ho Wong said if there is sufficient water and sewage capacity for the two hamlets then the Region wouldnt oppose growth However its up to the Town to do the necessary studies to determine the suitabili ty for further development in the two hamlets he explained Mr Wong went on to say its the Region position that development in rural area on the escarpment can happen in areas where a community already exists He defines a community as an area where an institution such as a church or a business such as a general store already exists A church or general store acts as a focus point for 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