Police renew appeal to track down man who sexually assaulted a young girl on a footpath

CCTV images have been released today relating to the sexual assault of a young girl in Oldham.

The victim described walking along the public footpath near Turner Street in Lees when she ‘smelt an unusual smell’.

She was then pushed out of the way by a man, who grabbed her and sexually assaulted her.

The incident occurred on Saturday 29 April, at around 4.30pm.

The man is described as white, with a slim build, around 19/20-years-old. He wore black joggers, black raincoat and black trainers. He had a hood that was covering his face, but the victim describes him as having hairy hands.

After the attack, she ran to Turner Street and raised the alarm.

DI Victoria Wade of Oldham CID said: “We are hoping that by releasing images of the man we would like to speak to in relation to this offence, as we believe he could hold some key information, and the map of where the girl walked, it may jog the memories of people living in the area, or indeed those who were visiting the area at the time, as to where they were on Saturday at around 4.30pm.

“We are asking for anyone to come forwards who may be able to provide us with doorbell, dashcam or CCTV footage of the man in question, they may be able to help us locate him.

“This is a heinous crime and traumatised a young girl, who was only there to make Tik Toks with her friends. This should not be something that she now has to live with.

“We are asking if anyone can help us, to email oldhamcid.crimeops@gmp.police.uk with any footage they may have or contact us on 0161 856 8967 / 8999, quoting log number 2413 of the 29/04/2023.”

Previously, Oldham’s neighbourhood Sergeant Graham Craven said: “This is a very concerning attack on a young girl and I would like to assure the local community that a team of detectives are working at pace to locate the offender.

“Whilst specialist officers are supporting the victim, we are continuing to follow up a number of lines of enquiry.

“You will see our officers out and about on foot conducting highly visible patrols over the next couple of days, making enquires and offering reassurance to the community as we move forward with this investigation.

“We also want people in the local area to remain vigilant and to report anything they feel is suspicious to us immediately as we will act on any further information we get.”

“If anyone has any information that may help with the investigation, they are asked to call 101 quoting log 2413 of the 29/4/2023.”

Featured image: GMP