A man who is alleged to have sexually assaulted a woman in her Thorncliffe Park home more than 25 years ago has been brought back to Canada to face charges after being arrested in the United Kingdom.

Police say the woman was sleeping in a ground floor apartment in a building near Millwood Road and Overlea Boulevard on July 27, 1990 when a suspect entered through an open window.

Once inside the unit, police say the suspect awoke the woman, attempted to choke her and then threatened her with bodily harm. The suspect then allegedly sexually assaulted the woman before fleeing.

At the time, police investigating the case did locate physical evidence at the scene; however they were unable to identify a suspect.

The case was then reopened in 2002 and investigators were able to develop a DNA profile for a suspect, however no match was found and the case again went cold.

That is until 2013 when police reopened the case again and this time were able to identify a suspect, who was residing in the UK through fingerprint evidence and confirm the identification through DNA evidence.

The suspect was then arrested with the assistance of Interpol and police in Manchester.

Speaking with reporters on Thursday, Det. Ali Ansari credited advances in technology with helping police finally crack the 25-year-old case.

“These days the Centre for Forensic Sciences can do magical things,” he said, noting that the suspect wasn’t originally thought to have been involved in the crime when it was first investigated. “Very little DNA is required to get a profile and there are even more things that we can learn from DNA.”

According to police, the suspect was deported to the United Kingdom about two-and-a-half months after the 1990 assault due to a crime that he is alleged to have committed. The nature of that crime has not been released.

Ansari said it is possible that the suspect may be responsible for other unsolved sexual assaults in Toronto as he had been in Canada for 12 years prior to his deportation.

“If anyone recognizes him and they are victim of his we welcome them to come forward,” he said.

Austin Wycliffe Thomas, 49, was returned to Toronto on Nov. 10 following extradition proceedings and has been charged with breaking and entering, sexual assault, overcoming resistance and threatening bodily harm.

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