Manhunt for suspects in Nova Scotia chained teen case broadens

The search for two men wanted in connection with the kidnapping, chaining, and sexual assault of a 16-year-old boy has now moved to Ontario. And one of the suspects may be dressed as a woman.

As Digital Journal reported earlier this week, a 16-year-old boy was found knocking on doors in Upper Chelsea, Nova Scotia on Monday. With chains around his wrists and ankles and wearing nothing but a hooded sweatshirt, he told police two men in a nearby house had kidnapped, chained, and sexually assaulted him. He had been held captive for two weeks. Police began looking for the men who had rented a nearby home. At the time, police believed David James Leblanc, 47, and William Alan Cunningham, 31, were in the same or adjoining Nova Scotia county. On Thursday, the Chronicle Herald reported the RCMP now believe the two suspects have made their way to Ontario. As to why the Mounties believe this, spokesman Sgt. Alain Leblanc stated, "I can't speak to the specifics of the case. It could be a tip from the public, maybe it's criminal intelligence we obtained from an informant." CBC reports that Anna Leblanc (no relation), knows both suspects and told police they should be looking for a man and a woman, not two men. When she first met Cunningham, he was convincingly posing as a woman and it was not until about a month later she learned he was really a man. Leblanc said, "I have seen him dressed as a girl. He can change his voice and everything." She also said Cunningham looks younger when he dresses as a woman and has told people he is 19 or 20. At the time of the alleged kidnapping, David Leblanc was out on bail. He was due to appear in court in November for a preliminary hearing on charges of sexual assault, sexual interference, and making, distributing, and possessing child pornography. He is alleged to have sexually molested two young Nova Scotia boys in 2010. And police say they found sexually explicit images on Leblanc's computer of two boys between the ages of two and five. The boys are believed to be from Nova Scotia. CTV reports Nova Scotia Conservative leader, Jim Baillie, wants to know why Leblanc was not more closely monitored after he was released. Baillie is quoted as saying, "Young people in particular are victimized when violent people, regardless of their status in the justice system or psychiatric system, are out without leave and are not tracked." According to police, Leblanc and Cunningham may be travelling in a 2003 Hyundai Elantra with Nova Scotia license plates.