Sexual assaults rock St. Paul's East Side
St. Paul police are marshalling what they describe as "unprecedented resources" to catch the suspect accused in the violent rape and beating of a 13-year-old girl on the city's East Side this week.
East Side residents will see more police cars along with fire trucks and ambulances patrolling the neighborhood where the attack took place.
St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington says cops from vice, gang and traffic units have joined the investigation into Monday's rape and beating of a 13-year-old girl.
Harrington says the attack is similar to a New Year's Day assault on a 57-year-old St. Paul woman in the same area. Harrington says in both cases the victims were choked and brutally attacked in public places.
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He says police are not 100-percent certain the two cases involve the same attacker.
"We are concerned however because they occurred one week apart," he said.
Harrington says says the St. Paul department is working with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's Sex Offender Tracking Unit in its search for suspects. The unit has identified at least 70 convicted sex offenders who live in the area of the attack and generally match the suspects physical descriptions. Police are questioning those registered offenders.
The Ramsey County Sheriff's Office is also involved in the investigation. Sheriff Bob Fletcher, says the attacks are unusual because they were extremely violent.
"In all likelihood the suspect intended that the victim would not survive," he said. "But as horrific as they are, when they effect 13-year-old children on the way to school they become terrifying to a community."
Fletcher and Harrington say they are reorganizing their departments to make sure they can put as many officers as possible on this investigation.
"We will take no pause until he is in custody. I'm quite confident that within a week or two window, he will be," he said.
A neighborhood meeting has been set for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Arlington Hills branch of the St. Paul Public Library.
