Neighbour afraid to walk street at night as manhunt continues after assault on teen

Residents of Blencowe Road in Geraldton say they had no idea a teenage girl was being sexually assaulted near their homes around 2am Saturday, but one resident said she would think twice about venturing out at night. Danielle Radford, 18, said she came outside all the time to “walk up and down”. “It made me realise I shouldn’t maybe be walking outside,” she said. Ms Radford said they had heard their four dogs barking during the night but they often barked at quarrelling strangers as they walked past. She said the street was very dark as the lamp opposite her home had not worked for about five years. When they awoke in the morning the Rangeway street was cordoned off. Ms Radford said police first examined the ground under the broken street lamp but later moved the crime scene to the next pole. Police say the alleged offender grabbed a 15-year-old girl and dragged her to “vacant land”. There he allegedly sexually assaulted her. Further up the street, Gordon Spowart rose at 5.30am to tend to his horses. “We never heard anything,” he said. “They were already up and gone.” Police have released CCTV footage of a person they want to question over a “random” sex attack. The man can be seen in the vision walking near Blencowe Road in the suburb of Rangeway about 2am, near where police say the 15-year-old girl was grabbed and taken to a vacant block before being sexually assaulted. Specialist detectives have been sent to Geraldton to help with the investigation. On Sunday, Insp. Dave Hooper said the attack appeared to be “random” and the victim and her family were receiving support. “Detectives are treating this as a priority matter,” he said. City of Geraldton mayor Shane Van Styn said the appalling attack had rocked what was a very close-knit community in Rangeway. “Geraldton prides itself on being a safe community and any incident like this, particularly when it involves a child, is deplorable,” Mr Van Styn said. “The random nature of the attack has shocked everyone. It shouldn’t matter what time of day it is, people should feel safe to move around their suburbs.” Mr Van Styn urged anyone who can identify the man to contact police immediately — adding the alleged offender should hand himself in. “Our police have responded to incidents over the year with great success and we have the utmost confidence that they will get the perpetrator who is responsible for this,” he said. Police said the attacker was dark-skinned and was wearing an Adidas shirt. Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a report online at www.crimestopperswa.com.au.