Man charged with sexual assault of 14-year-old girl arrested and released twice in weeks before alleged attack

A Vancouver woman is telling a frightening story about a man who allegedly terrorized her at her East Vancouver home back in March.

The woman also says the same man — a repeat sex offender who was on probation — should not have been walking the streets two months later when he is alleged to have sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in a public washroom.

John Frederick Field, 62, was taken into custody by Vancouver police at the woman's East 1st Avenue home on March 26 and released within 24 hours.

On May 28, Field was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting the 14-year-old as part of what the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) described as a "crime spree" that took place in the Oakridge neighbourhood. 

CBC News confirmed the identity of the East Vancouver woman through court documents and has agreed to only use her first name — Danielle — because she fears for her safety.

"I can't even imagine if I didn't have a dog and I didn't wake up and he did break into my house, like, the kind of trauma I would be dealing with," she said.

Danielle said she was asleep in her third-floor apartment on March 26 when her dog started barking at the back patio door around 4:30 a.m. 

"As soon as I got out of bed, that's when I started to hear someone tap on my window. And at first the tapping started pretty gently ... then as I came out of my bedroom and got my housecoat on, I saw him through my kitchen patio door," said the 28-year-old.

"He's just standing there looking at me … so I got closer to the door and I realized, oh, this is a stranger. And then as I screamed, realizing that I didn't know this person, he started walking toward the door and started banging on the door.

"I grabbed a knife that was on my kitchen counter. My dog was barking — he's freaking out. The guy's still banging on the door and he's screaming at me."

Danielle said she called police just as the man started throwing her patio furniture — two chairs, a lounger and a table — off the deck. 

"He definitely seemed like he was intoxicated on some kind of substance. I could not understand what he was screaming. He was just very belligerent."

Police arrived quickly, climbed the fire escape to the patio and put the man in handcuffs, according to Danielle. 

VPD spokesperson Sgt. Steve Addison said Field was taken to jail but released after signing an undertaking agreeing to, among other things, stay away from Danielle and her home, and to appear in court on April 28 to potentially face a charge.