Two years after he allegedly assaulted a little girl, police arrested a resident of Baqa al-Gharbiyye Tuesday. The man is suspected of dragging the girl to an abandoned building and sexually assaulting her.
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According to suspicion, the girl was walking home when the 25-year-old approached her and grabbed her tightly. After dragging her to an abandoned building, he threatened her and stripped her upper body of clothing. The suspect was unable to completely undress her, most likely due to her resistance, but did manage perform indecent acts onher person. He then fled, leaving the girl alone in the building.
The girl reported the incident to Hadera police, and investigators collected evidence from the building. On Tuesday, two years after the incident, they arrested a suspect and verified a DNA match. Police have charged him with kidnapping with the intention of committing a sexual offense, indecent acts on a minor, assault and threats.
- The suspect denied the allegations and claimed to have had sex with his girlfriend in the building, thus explaining his DNA found at the scene. He also provided investigators with the contact details of his girlfriend as a possible alibi.
The incident has caused panic among parents in Pardes Hanna ."It scared us to death to think of a little girl walking down the street, being abducted and sexually assaulted ,"they said. "This incident could have ended much worse with rape or God forbid, her murder."
"How does an incident like this occur in quiet community like ours?" a parent asked. "Why should we have to live in fear? Hopefully whoever was arrested is really the one who committed the act, and this is a local, one-time incident, and the person who did this isn’t walking around the community, looking for more victims."