Philadelphia

Teen Girls Heading to School Sexually Assaulted After Getting Off SEPTA Subway

The assaults both took happened after the teens got off SEPTA's Broad Street Line subway trains, Philadelphia police said

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A person of interest is now in custody in connection to one of the two sexual assaults of teen girls who were getting off SEPTA's Broad Street Line subway trains.

Two separate sexual assaults targeted teenage girls after they got off SEPTA's Broad Street Line while heading to school Thursday and Friday mornings, Philadelphia said, while noting they can't rule out that the same person is responsible for both attacks.

"These kids do nothing but try to go to school and they are being preyed upon," Capt. James Kearney, commanding officer of Philadelphia Police Special Victims Unit said at a Friday afternoon news conference, while noting he is upset.

The first incident took place Thursday morning after a 15-year-old got onto SEPTA's Broad Street Line subway at the Olney Station "heading off to school," Kearney said.

While riding the subway, a man in his 20s tried to strike up a conversation with her, Kearney said.

Sex assault suspect seen in SEPTA station
Philadelphia police
A surveillance image of the suspect in the Oct. 20, 2022 attack.

The girl got off at the Broad-Ride Spur and the man followed, trying to continue to talk to her, Kearney said.

The man then forced her under a staircase and attempted to sexually assault her, Kearney said. The girl managed to fight off that attack but the man then continued to follow her out onto the street.

The man then forced her into an apartment where "he did sexually assault her," Kearney said.

Surveillance video released by police shows a man appearing to walk on a staircase and also walking along the subway platform. Police said the incident played out around 8 a.m.

The man wore a blue "Nike" hoodie and light blue distressed jeans during the attack, police said. He stands around 5-feet, 8-inches tall with braids and a beard.

Then, around 8 a.m. Friday, a 13-year-old girl who had just left the SEPTA subway station at North Broad and Race streets was approached by a man who claimed he had a gun, Kearney said.

He then forced her into a parking garage stairway off the 1800 block of Cherry Street "where he sexually assaulted her," Kearney said.

This man is wanted in a sex assault that took place on Oct. 21, 2022
Philadelphia Police
These images show the man wanted in the Oct. 21 sex assault.

Police said the attacker -- who appeared to be in his late teens of early 20s -- then proceeded to walk alongside that girl as she headed toward school.

He wore a black North Face jacket, black sweatpants with white writing on the pant leg and black and white sneakers during the incident, police said. In images released by police, he also appears to be wearing “Beats”-style headphones around his neck.

On Friday, police confirmed a person of interest is in custody in connection to the sexual assault of the 13-year-old girl. They have not yet confirmed if that person of interest is also connected to the sexual assault of the 15-year-old.

Investigators said the attacks were different but that the description of the suspect in each case was similar.

"We are not ruling out that it is the same person, but we have nothing to indicate that it is either," Kearney said.

Police asked anyone with information to contact the Special Victims Unit at 215-685-3251/3252 or submit a tip over the phone or text to 215-686-8477. Tips can also be submitted online.

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