04/02/2011

Belfast Sex Predator Flees After Challenge

The PSNI are investigating reports that a woman was sexually assaulted in south Belfast early this morning.

The victim, who is in her 20s, was walking along Marcus Ward Street in the city at about 1am on Friday when a man thought to be aged in his 20s, attacked her.

He was interrupted by a passer-by and then ran away with the police appealing for witnesses to come forward.

Also this week, a youth, aged around 17-years-of-age, has exposed himself to a woman in Co Tyrone.

It happened at Strule Park in the Gortmore area of Omagh on Thursday morning at around 9.15am.

The teenager was wearing a light grey hooded top with dark tracksuit bottoms, and had dark hair with fringe and pale skin.

Police are appealing for information on that incident.

Meanwhile, a plan to officially launch a regional facility to help victims of rape and sexual assault has been postponed.

The opening was originally scheduled for next Monday at Antrim Area Hospital, but because of 'unforeseen circumstances' a new date will now be set.

Such treatments are increasingly in demand. Sexual offences are on the increase across Ireland with news this week that rapes and other sexual assaults have almost doubled across the border in Co Donegal over the past year.

The Irish police and Dublin's Central Statistics Office show that 96 incidents were recorded in 2010, compared to 51 the year before.

(BMcC/GK)

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