Man charged with sexual assault, forcible confinement after woman escapes Calgary hotel room
CBC News | Posted: October 16, 2017 4:17 PM | Last Updated: October 16, 2017
Accused previously charged with manslaughter after fatal 2015 stabbing in Red Deer
A 37-year-old man has been charged after a woman was allegedly confined and sexually assaulted over the course of 11 hours earlier this month.
According to Calgary police, the victim met a man through a dating website. The two met up in a southwest Calgary hotel on Oct. 4.
"It is alleged that during the course of 11 hours, the victim was physically assaulted, sexually assaulted, prevented from leaving the hotel room and burned," Calgary police said in a release Monday.
When the man stepped away for a short time, the victim was able to escape, police said. She ran to the lobby and asked the clerk to call a cab.
Multiple charges
When she got home, she told her family what had happened and police were called.
The suspect, Vasilios (Billy) Georgopoulos, was arrested on Friday at a different hotel in south Calgary.
Georgopoulos has been charged with sexual assault, forcible confinement, assault with a weapon, uttering threats and damage to property under $5,000.
Staff Sgt. Bruce Walker with the Calgary Police Service's sex crimes unit said Georgopoulos is known to police in Calgary and central Alberta.
"[The woman] was truly an innocent victim, looking for a potential date and did not consent to what occurred in that hotel room," Walker said.
Previous manslaughter charge
Georgopoulos was previously charged in 2016 with manslaughter and accessory after the fact to murder for the November 2015 stabbing death of Alan Beach, 31, outside a pub at the Village Mall in Red Deer.
He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of assault earlier this year.
Georgopoulos is scheduled to appear in a Calgary courtroom on Oct. 26.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Calgary police or Crime Stoppers.
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