A man is on the run after kidnapping a young girl as she walked to school, before sexually assaulting her at knifepoint.
Police are desperately hunting the man responsible for the ‘horrendous’ attack on the 11-year-old on Tuesday morning in Adamstown Heights, near Newcastle, NSW.
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Jacob from the Child Abuse and Sex Crime Squad described the horrific five-hour ordeal as ‘a worrying crime committed in broad daylight’, the Newcastle Herald reported.
An 11-year-old girl was abducted and sexually assaulted during a five-hour ordeal in Newcastle (pictured are investigators at one of the crime scenes)
The girl was walking through Hudson Park in the Newcastle suburb of Adamstown Heights just after 9.15am on Tuesday (pictured is one of the crime scenes)
‘It’s our mission to get this person and remove him from the community as quickly as we possibly can,’ Chief Inspector Jacob said.
‘Let me just say it was a horrible series of attacks on this young lady and I’m very thankful that we have a very brave young woman who’s been able to help up so valuably in our continuing enquiry.’
Police have described the man, who was wearing a black and grey hoodie at the time, as having a chubby face and hands and messy, dark hair.
His teeth are said to have brown stains on them and he has wrinkles around his mouth and forehead.
The girl was walking through Hudson Park just after 9.15am when she was threatened with a knife by a man who sexually assaulted her, police said.
She was then forced into a red car and driven to bushland where she was sexually assaulted for several hours before being released at Kotara Railway Station just before 2.15pm.
The girl was threatened with a knife by a man who sexually assaulted her, police said (pictured is an area under investigation by police)
Police were called when she returned home and the girl was taken to John Hunter Hospital for medical examination.
A crime scene was established at Hudson Park and forensically examined while Newcastle police and the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad commenced inquiries.
Police are urging anyone who was in the Adamstown Heights area or anyone with information that may assist to contact Crime Stoppers.
An 11-year-old girl was abducted and sexually assaulted during a five-hour ordeal in Newcastle