SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A positive DNA match has led to the arrest of a 24-year-old Yellowknife man in relation to a Frame Lake Trail sexual assault dating back to June 2008, according to police.

Anthony Griep was charged Monday with sexual assault after being ordered to provide a DNA sample for a recent unrelated conviction outside the Yellowknife RCMP jurisdiction, said Const. Kathy Law.

The National DNA Data Bank notified the Yellowknife RCMP in April of a positive match in the three-year-old assault suspect profile.

The assault in question occurred on June 5, 2008, when a 19-year-old woman was walking home on the trail. Police said she was grabbed from behind, dragged into the bushes and sexually assaulted.

In 2010, following reports of several assaults and incidents in the area, environmental group Ecology North spearheaded calls to install emergency Blue Light phones along the trail to promote public confidence in using the area for walking, biking and other recreational purposes, program director Doug Ritchie said.

Raising concerns of pranksters and otherwise illegitimate callers placing strain on police resources with the emergency phones — which typically connect to the police at the push of a button — the RCMP opposed the installations, prompting Ecology North to look into other ways of increasing public safety along the trail.

"It was pointless trying to pursue (the emergency phone system) without the support of the RCMP," Ritchie said, adding the group has supported other measures such as cutting back bush from the trail's edge to create more width and visibility, and increased patrols of the trails.

Last summer, four police officers were assigned to the mountain bike unit, regularly patrolling the city's trails and other areas difficult to access with police vehicles.

The unit responded to 953 calls for service last year, Law said, laying 104 charges, mostly related to drugs or breaching court conditions.

Due to police staffing shortfalls caused by transfers and scheduling conflicts, the bike unit, which was scheduled to start patrols June 1, is now down to three officers.

While maintenance and patrols have increased safety on the trails, Law warned the public to avoid the trails past daylight hours, areas with less visibility, less populated areas and especially travelling along the trails alone at night.

Griep was released on a number of conditions before a Justice of the Peace and is scheduled to appear in territorial court on June 7 at 9:30 a.m.

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