6-year-old sexually assaulted in Metro Vancouver

Police are warning parents to be vigilant after a six-year-old girl was sexually assaulted at knifepoint in Surrey, B.C., on Friday.

The girl was walking with her older brother and his friend, aged 12 and 15, near the 13900 block of 62nd Avenue when a man with a knife approached them and ordered them to a treed location, police said in arelease Sunday.

The man threatened the two boys and told them to stay where they were, police said, then took the girl to a separate area where she was sexually assaulted. The manfled on foot.

RCMP Sgt. Roger Morrow said the incident appears to be isolated, but police are asking parents to be careful.

"Certainly, you want to know where your children are [and] keep them, perhaps, with adults as opposed to younger teenagers," he said.

"Make sure they're in high traffic areas, baseball diamonds where there's a lot of people around or a soccer game going on, that kind of thing, if they want to be in our parks."

Morrow said police are investigating to determine whether the children got all of the details correct, but are taking the incident very seriously.

The suspect is described as a darker-skinned male possibly Hispanic, Asian or South Asian in his late 20s or early 30s, approximately five-feet-nine inches tall. He has a black crewcut hairstyle and was wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt with blue or black pants and shiny shoes.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911, the Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.