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12-Year-Old Boys Escape Knife-Wielding Assailant Poised to Commit Sexual Assault
Photo by Straight 8 Photography via Shutterstock
A pair of quick-moving and thinking boys are safe today after they successfully evaded a knife-wielding assailant who attempted to sexually assault one of the youngsters.
The attack took place Sunday evening when the boys were playing on the swings at Ladera Ranch Elementary School in Ladera Ranch. The boys say they were approached from behind "by a man wearing a red bandana and holding a folding knife," Orange County Sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino told the OC Register.
One boy took off running, but the other boy was taken captive by the suspect, who dragged the child about 10-15 feet before he ordered the boy to take off his pants and underwear.
The boy removed his pants as ordered, but then grabbed a handful of wood chips from the ground and threw them at his attacker's face, giving the child a chance to run away.
A witness saw the boy on a nearby street in bare feet and boxer shorts and called authorities.
A search of the area did not yield any suspects or arrests.
The boys say their assailant was a man in his early 20s, wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans and sandals. A sketch artist could not render an illustration of a suspect, however, because his face had been covered by the bandana.
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Anyone with information about the suspect or the attack is asked to contact authorities in Ladera Ranch immediately.
Just last week in Whittier an assailant attempted to kidnap a 12-year-old boy who was playing on the swings at an area park. That child was able to escape his attacker thanks to the intervention of his older brothers.
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