Alaska State Troopers are looking for other victims of a man they say pretended to need help with his snowmachine as a ruse to sexually assault at least four women near the village of Kasigluk.
Troopers arrived in the village after receiving a report of a sexual assault on Nov. 28, according to Trooper Nicolas Hayes. He said two victims each reported 19-year-old Nicholas Brink, of Nunapitchuk, sexually assaulted them after tricking them into getting onto his snowmachine and driving them out to a secluded area.
“He was trying to fictitiously get help from them to find a residence,” Hayes said. “While he was doing that, they were nice enough to give him directions and he would ask them to get on his snowmachine… and then he would take them out to the tundra and try to sexually assault them.”
During their initial investigation, a woman came forward claiming to be a victim of Brink’s ploy, dating back to October, according to Hayes. He said they added the third victim’s case to their investigation into Brink, when yet another victim came forward.
“Mr. Brink is from Nunapitchuk, so I went there to work on the investigation around him,” Hayes said.”That’s when another victim…on the 13th of December, that victim contacted me in the village… and reported what had happened to her.”
Troopers arrested Brink on Dec. 15 at 10:45 a.m. and charged him with first-degree sexual assault, first-degree attempted sexual assault, first-degree kidnapping, two counts of second-degree attempted sexual assault and first-degree burglary.
Brink was taken to the Yukon-Kuskowkim Correctional Center and held there, but bail information was not immediately available.
Troopers believe Brink may have victimized other women in the area, and are encouraging any potential victims or witnesses to contact Trooper Hayes at 907-543-2294.
“We have four victims right now, two different villages that are very easily accessible between the two,” Hayes explained. “With this kind of predatory behavior, we’d like any other victims to come forward and contact me so that we can make sure that they’re heard and make sure they’re taken care of.”
Kasigluk and Nunapitchuk are both located northwest of Bethel in western Alaska.
