Peel regional police investigating alleged indecent exposure incident on UTM Nature Trail
Campus Safety alerted the UTM.
On Friday, September 19, at 5:38 p.m., the University of Toronto (U of T) released a community-wide notice through its Alert system via email and message to students, staff, and faculty about “an alleged indecent exposure incident at the UTM Nature Trail.
According to the alert, someone reported to Peel Regional Police that they “saw a man exposing himself on September 18 between 2:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. The man was described as a male, black, between 6 and 6 feet 3, muscular build, shirtless, wearing red shorts, with long hair, possibly dreadlocks.” Police subsequently informed Campus Safety, prompting the campus-wide alert.
“UTM Campus Safety has increased patrols and is helping Peel Regional Police Service in their investigation.” The alert did not specify whether anyone involved in the incident is a member of the UTM community.
The last time a safety alert like this was sent out was on March 21, 2025, when Toronto police arrested a suspect in connection with a homicide investigation at the St. George Campus.
The Medium interviewed students shortly after the alert was sent out.
Samiya Khan, a fourth-year psychology and biology for health sciences double major, said that although she was concerned about the alleged incident, she was pleased with how Campus Safety was handling the situation. “I’m glad that our campus security is giving up-to-date details as things progress, which allows me as a student to feel more alert, calm, and engaged with the matter.”
She especially commended the promptness of the most recent alert, as she felt that the University had taken too long to alert students about dangerous incidents in the past. “We need to be made aware, as things like these are about our community’s safety.”
Trung La, a fifth-year international student double majoring in political science and philosophy, said he wasn’t very surprised by the alert. “In my experience, schools are always bound to contain weirdos of different stripes.”
He also said that the incident hasn’t changed how safe he feels on campus. “In my years at UTM, I haven’t seen enough weird things to judge it as a systematic fault that makes me feel more unsafe. As long as the hows and whys get solved and the campus does its best to stop a repeat, I don’t mind.”
Leen, a student who saw the alert while busing out of campus Friday evening, also said she wasn’t very concerned. “At first, I was a little scared because I thought the alert was about me personally.” She expressed that she’s glad the alleged incident seems to be isolated. “I honestly didn’t know that we even had a nature trail.”
The UTM Nature Trail runs through the woods to the north and east of campus from Lislehurst to the P4 parking lot. It connects to Erindale Park via Culham Trail.
