Pubdate: September 25, 2000
Source: Hamilton Spectator (CN ON)
Copyright: The Hamilton Spectator 2000
Contact:  http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/
Author: Laura Cassiani

COPS SUSPECT RAPE DRUG USED

Police are trying to determine if a 14-year-old girl was slipped a rape 
drug before she was found barely conscious at the Ancaster Fair Friday. 
Police say the unidentified teen may have been slipped Rohypnol, which goes 
by the street name of Ruffies, a powerful sedative that has been used in 
sexual assaults.

Last month, a 19-year-old woman collapsed in a Hess Village club after her 
drink was spiked with what doctors suspected was a powerful tranquilizer 
commonly referred to as Special K.

She was not sexually assaulted. The drug Special K has also been linked 
with sexual assault cases.

In the latest incident, emergency room doctors at McMaster University 
Medical Centre tested the girl's blood.

Hamilton-Wentworth Police Detective Dave Beech said he would not release 
the medical opinion given to investigators.

Meanwhile, police want to question the girl again.

They also want to talk with some of her friends who had been drinking with 
her that night.

Detectives were waiting until the lingering effects of the drug -- which 
include confusion, blackouts and gaps in memory -- to subside before 
getting a full statement.

The girl had also been getting over the alcohol consumption from Friday 
which delayed questioning over the weekend.

"We are waiting until she can be questioned," Beech said.

Two security guards found the groggy teen on the fairgrounds at Southcote 
and Garner (Rymal) roads shortly after 8:30 p.m.

Beech said the Ancaster teen was with a group of friends before leaving the 
fair at 5:30 p.m.

The high-school student was on her way to meet another group of friends 
before she was found.

Police are still trying to piece together a chronology of the night to 
determine when she may have ingested the sedative.

"It's not really clear what happened between 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. but 
she was with people she knew throughout the day and night," Beech said.

What happened while the girl was unconscious isn't clear, but Beech said 
"there were some comments made (by the victim) that have to be investigated."

Investigators in the sexual assault unit have taken over the case.

Further information is expected to be released today.
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