An Abbotsford man has been charged with sexual offences involving two women, and police have released his photo to help identify other potential victims.
Sgt. Paul Walker, media officer with the Abbotsford Police Department, said Angelo Roefaro, 53, was charged on May 12 with two counts of sexual assault, assault, administering a stupefying substance, and theft under $5,000.
Walker said police began investigating Roefaro in January for a sexual assault that was alleged to have occurred in December.
Detectives with the sex crimes unit then began a second sexual assault investigation on May 12, and discovered that Roefaro was also the suspect in that incident.
He was charged that day and remains in custody, pending a bail hearing. His next appearance is slated for June 1 in Abbotsford provincial court.
Walker said police have released Roefaro’s photo “to help identify additional witnesses, victims, or individuals with information relevant to Mr. Roefaro’s activities.”
Anyone with information or who might be a victim is asked to call police at 604-859-5225.
According to court documents, Roefaro was sentenced to three years in prison in October 2011 for a 2008 incident in Vancouver in which he used a metal pipe to beat a man who was a drug-buying customer.
At the time, Roefaro had an “extensive background involving drug trafficking and assaults,” the documents state.
The victim in the case was a cocaine addict who said Roefaro was his dealer.
The man had gone to the rooming house where he normally purchased his drugs from Roefaro to straighten out a rumour that he owed Roefaro money, according to the court documents.
Roefaro then accused the man of “coming on” to his wife and beat him with a metal pipe over a three-hour period, as well as kicked and punched him.
The victim’s injuries included several broken ribs, lacerations to his head, and the loss of five teeth.
“The beating itself was a very brutal beating and a beating which was taken upon a victim with absolutely no means to defend himself while he was locked in a bathroom,” the judge said at Roefaro’s sentencing.
The judge also described Roefaro’s criminal history over a 15-year period at the time. He had several convictions in Toronto for offences such as assault, possession of a prohibited weapon, uttering threats and drug trafficking.