A 25-year-old man who police allege forced his way into a home during the night in Welland, Ont., and violently sexually assaulted a toddler inside has been arrested and charged — and neighbours and friends say they are outraged that the man had been released from jail in March from a previous child sex offence.
While police described the incident as a stranger attack, several friends of the victim’s mother say the man arrested was known to the victim’s family and had previous contact with the young female victim.
Police and paramedics were called to a home in a residential neighbourhood at 8:59 Sunday morning for an injured child under the age of five, according to Niagara Regional Police. When a police car arrived, officers saw that the door to the home looked like it had been forced open.
Inside they saw a child “suffering from serious injuries” and immediately launched a criminal investigation, while paramedics called for emergency transportation to an out-of-region specialist hospital for advanced medical care, police said.
“After speaking with the child’s parents, it became apparent an unknown person defeated the lock on the front door and entered the residence sometime between Sat. Aug. 30, 2025, at 10:00 p.m. and prior to the incident being reported on Sun. Aug. 31, 2025, at 8:59 a.m. While inside the residence, unbeknownst to the parents, their child was sexually assaulted,” police said in a news release.
She remains in hospital and is listed in stable condition, police said.
The accused is identified by police as Daniel Senecal, 25, of Welland. He is charged with aggravated sexual assault on a child, assault, assault by choking, breaking and entering a home and sexual interference with a child.
Police spoke with neighbours around the house, that is subdivided into apartments, near Crowland Avenue and York Street, and a witness said they may have video surveillance footage. Police said they reviewed surveillance video and a suspect was identified. Uniform patrol officers, in consultation with detectives assigned to the Child Abuse Unit, then arrested Senecal, police said.
A neighbour told National Post that she heard police outside calling out to someone that they were arresting him for sexual assault of a minor, and she ran over to take a photo on her phone. She knew of the horrible attack that happened nearby earlier the same day.
“It’s happening, they finally found the guy,” said the neighbour, who did not want her name published. “This is bad. This is very, very bad. This needs to be addressed.”
Another mother in the area told National Post the suspect is the same man who sexually attacked her young son in 2021. She said the attack on her son largely mirrored the allegations in the weekend attack, including a nighttime sexual assault, although he did not break into the home as he was a guest at a relative’s house. She said he was arrested, charged and after two years of court hearings was sentenced to 18 months in jail, but was released six months early, in early March.
“That poor little girl, my heart breaks,” she said. National Post is not publishing her name to comply with the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
“To be honest, I feel like I failed. I feel like I failed to get him locked up longer. I feel like I failed as a parent to protect any other children from getting hurt. When I see (a picture of him) my heart sunk. I felt like I wasn’t heard enough by the probation officer.
“The fact that the justice system did not do more makes me hurt.”
Koreen Perry, a friend of the family and a local business owner, said the girl who is in hospital is known as a happy, cheery child who would sing and dance in her store whenever she was there with her mother.
“This little girl is always happy and loving. I look forward to always seeing her sweet face. This past Friday she was walking by, she stopped and looked in my door. I waved and she gave me the biggest smile and waved,” Perry said. It was such a happy moment she even took a photo of her.
“She honestly reminded me of the girl in that show, the Little House on the Prairie, who is smiling and running in the opening and the little girl falls but gets up and keeps laughing.
“It’s scary to see how things can happen, in your own home when you’re sleeping. We’ll be burning that bed before she gets home.”
Perry, like others, is perplexed why Niagara police called it a stranger attack in their news release.
Niagara police did not respond to several requests for comment on the incident, or to explain why the case was described as a stranger assault.
Senecal was held in custody and was scheduled for a court appearance Monday in Welland. The outcome is not known.
“Detectives assigned to the Child Abuse Unit have assumed carriage of the investigation. They are being supported by detectives assigned to the Sexual Assault Unit and Forensic Services Unit,” police said.
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