Police have released the name of a man suspected of attacking a teenaged girl in downtown Whitehorse last week.

Whitehorse RCMP are looking for Christian James Gallan.

He has been charged with sexual assault causing bodily harm and choking, as well as having sexual contact with a person under the age of 17.

A 15-year-old girl was attacked as she walked down Strickland Street between Third and Fourth avenues last Tuesday night.

The girl managed to fight off her attacker and call for help, police reported last week.

The RCMP issued a press release on the incident but did not immediately state the name of the suspect.

"We were looking for him, we followed up a couple of leads and when they didn't pan out as expected, we decided to put it out to the public," Sgt. Don Rogers of the Whitehorse detachment said this morning.

The girl knows the man who accosted her, Rogers said, but the two did not have any sort of romantic or otherwise familiar relationship.

A warrant has been issued for Gallan's arrest, and the charges have been laid against him in his absence.

Gallan is a 33-year-old caucasian male. He is 5'8" tall and weighs approximately 155 lbs

He was last seen with short brown hair and brown eyes, and he may be wearing facial hair.

Gallan is a resident of Whitehorse, but does not have a fixed address and is known to frequent the downtown area.

"He may or may not be between residences; we don't know," Rogers said.

Rogers repeated his earlier assertion that this was not a random attack, but could give no further details on why the suspect is not considered a threat to public safety.

He asked that anyone who spots Gallan "make note of where he's at and what he's wearing and contact police."