By Jen Skerritt

POLICE said a 17-year-old girl walking alone Friday night was grabbed from behind by a man, beaten, and dragged into a back lane where she was the victim of a "serious" sexual assault.
Sgt. Kelly Dennison said the girl was walking in the area of Ellen Street and the 300 block of Notre Dame Avenue around 9 p.m. when the violent attack occurred.

The man allegedly struck the girl and sexually assaulted her before fleeing the area. The victim was treated in hospital for her injuries.

The girl was the second teenage victim of a sexual assault this week.

On Thursday afternoon, another 17-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted as she got off a bus in front of John Taylor Collegiate around 3:30 p.m.
Police said a teenage boy grabbed and groped her before running away.

The president of childrens' rights advocacy group Beyond Borders said attention is typically focused more on online sexual exploitation, rather than random attacks on children outside their homes.

"The fact of the matter is that if they put all this focus on the Internet, we still have to remember that street-proofing children is unfortunately necessary," said Rosalind Prober, reached by phone en route to a law enforcement meeting in Vancouver.

Dennison said these types of attacks are rare and police are working to collect forensic evidence and locate witnesses in Friday night's attack.

"It's not something we hear about every day," Dennison said.

He said the man did not have a weapon and police have not yet made arrests.

Police are asking anyone with information to come forward.

The man is described as Caucasian, in his 20s, 5'9" to 5'11", with a thin build, mustache, and was wearing small framed glasses, a black tuque, dark jeans and possibly gloves at the time of the attack.

According to Winnipeg Police CrimeStat, 11 sexual assaults were reported between Jan. 1 and Feb. 10 -- a slight increase from the 10 sexual assaults reported in the same time period in 2007.
Anyone with information should contact Winnipeg Police sex crimes unit at 986-6245.