Ontario trans male breaks into family home, sexually assaults toddler: police

A trans-identified male has been charged with sexually assaulting and choking a toddler after breaking into a family's home in Ontario, Canada. The alleged crime took place in Welland, and the suspect uses "she/her" pronouns on social media.

Daniel “Dani” Senecal, 25, was arrested after police received a “medical assistance call involving a child under the age of 5” on Sunday right before 9 am, per Reduxx. The home where the child was located had signs of forced entry when police arrived, and the 5-year-old had sustained injuries needing advanced care at a medical center. The parents in the home woke up to discover their child was attacked during the night.

A witness came forward with security footage as police carried out the investigation, and the suspect was quickly identified as Senecal. The suspect was taken into custody by police and Senecal was charged with aggravated sexual assault on a child, assault, assault by choking, breaking and entering a home and sexual interference with a child.

The 5-year-old female victim, although she needed medical care, has been declared to be in stable condition. According to the National Post, Senecal is the same suspect who sexually attacked a young boy in the same area, the mother of the past victim told the outlet.

"That poor little girl, my heart breaks,” the mother said. “To be honest, I feel like I failed. I feel like I failed to get him locked up longer. I feel like I failed as a parent to protect any other children from getting hurt. When I seen (a picture of him) my heart sunk. I felt like I wasn’t heard enough by the probation officer. The fact that the justice system did not do more makes me hurt.”

A friend of the family and a local business owner, Koreen Perry, told the outlet of the little girl who was attacked, “This little girl is always happy and loving. I look forward to always seeing her sweet face. This past Friday she was walking by, she stopped and looked in my door. I waved and she gave me the biggest smile and waved."

“She honestly reminded me of the girl in that show, the Little House on the Prairie, who is smiling and running in the opening and the little girl falls but gets up and keeps laughing," Perry added.

Reduxx reported that although there is not much known about Senecal's past, the suspect's Facebook profile appears to show Senecal recently started to identify as transgender.