Police have addressed the media about a heinous sexual assault and kidnapping carried out on an 11-year-old girl at Adamstown Heights yesterday morning.
Detectives are praising the brave victim, originally thought to be aged 12, who was left at Kotara Railway Station and walked over a kilometre to make it home after the 5-hour ordeal.
She was approached on her way to school in Hudson Park near Belair Public School around 9:15; attacked from behind, threatened at knifepoint and raped, before being dragged into a red car and assaulted again.
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Jacob from the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad says police are working closely with the victim and her family, as police look for a man matching this description:
"...Chubby with dark, short, messy hair," Inspector Jacob said, "he has wrinkles on his forehead and around his mouth, he's got brown staining on his teeth and chubby hands."
"[The attacker] was last seen driving a red car, possibly a Holden Commodore sedan, around the area," he said.
The man was wearing a grey and black hooded jumper with a blue print on the front at waist level.
Police are combing through nearby CCTV footage and are appealing for anyone with dashcam footage of the car in transit to come forward, while specialised officers are canvassing a number of areas in the Adamstown Heights and Kotara suburb.
Inspector Jacob was unable to confirm whether the girl's school sent a text-message alert to her parents when she failed to arrive for roll call, as is protocol at many Hunter schools, however, said local Principals are being consulted on the best way address stranger danger in the wake of this crime.
We're being assured the 11-year-old is coping very well and is being helped to sift through the trauma.
"She's doing remarkably well, she's an incredibly brave young lady who's intensely assisted the police into the late evening," Paul Jacob said.
"She's now with her parents and is being strongly supported...Police, through the John Hunter Hospital, are supporting her with counselling," the Inspector confirmed.
Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
 |
| Detectives establish a crime scene at Hudson Park, Adamstown Heights on Tuesday night 12/06/18. Image: The Herald. |
