Posted on 05/17/2007 9:25:29 PM PDT by No Blue States
(CBS) MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. It's supposed to be a sanctuary, but instead it turned into the most unexpected place for an attack.
Middletown police right now are looking for a man who sexually assaulted a woman inside a local church. They got a good look at him thanks to surveillance video that was rolling during the entire attack.
The attack happened just after midnight on Wednesday. The victim, a volunteer at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Middletown, was volunteering during perpetual adoration when the church is kept open for paying respect over the Eucharist.
"Well, Middletown is a small city, 26,000 residents," Middletown Police Chief Matthew Byrne told CBS 2 HD. "A crime like this has a chilling effect on the entire community. This is an active and open investigation. We're following up on every lead. Credit the victim in this case for fighting off this vicious and heinous attacker."
The suspect is a white male with brown hair, about 6-feet tall and is seen in the video wearing cut-off blue-jean shorts and a red "Aeropostale" shirt.
As seen on the video, the suspect walks in and sits down in a pew. Then out of nowhere he leaps on top of the woman, holding her down and groping her.
They struggle for a while before the victim takes her pen and stabs him in the neck, fighting him off. He flees and she calls police. The attack happened in less than a minute.
Police believe the suspect is a local and are desperate to get him off the streets.
""She was participating in perpetual adoration, which is a 24-hour watch in a Catholic chapel," Chief Byrne reiterated.”As a sign of respect, they hold vigil over the Eucharist. She was making notes in a notepad and fought off the attacker repeatedly with her pen by stabbing him in the neck. And that was enough to buy her time and scare him off, and I credit her.
""I'm hoping someone in the public will recognize him. We have some good footage and we're asking the public to call 845-343-3151 and all calls will be kept confidential. We're hoping to find this guy."
Forgive my lack of mercy.
At least she stabbed him in the neck.
The odds are good he will be caught with a hole in his neck and a good picture of him captured.
And DNA on the pen.
What is his C.R.E.W. t-shirt about?
She was tough and smart to fight back like that.
At least he was caught. My parish is in a rough part of town, and the church closes at 9 P.M. Our adoration doesn’t go all night.
He should be hunted down and shot like a rabid dog. (after being tortured of course)
No. Hand him over to the Nuns.
I could be wrong, but the perp looks Hispanic or Middle Eastern. And isn't it funny that articles usually do not list ethnicity (in order to be "PC"), yet in this case they do - and it seems to be incorrectly listed as white. Of course!
He hasnt been caught yet that Ive heard.
He ran out of the church after being gored in the neck with her pen and the hunt is still on.
If you are I am too.
The epitome of cowardice and treachery, attacking an unsuspecting woman alone in a church?!? Pathetic.
I’m copying the Catholic ping list leaders in case they wish to make other Catholics aware of this. Many parishes practice nighttime or ‘round-the-clock adoration; it might be a good idea to make sure a male parishioner is present for the hours after dark. I think the presence of a visible man in the church could have possibly discouraged the attacker.
Ours does. They require 2 people in attendance at all times. Maybe it would be safer if others did as well.
I am so confused. Who was shooting the video in a church? And whoever they are, why do they just keep shooting video while a man is trying to attack an innocent woman in church? I mean, at least yell and stomp or something so the guy knows he is busted. Don’t just stand there silently FILMING THE ATTACK.
I don’t get it.
You know, like an automatic thing? No one works it? It's just on all the time?
I wonder how much the increasing presence of surveillance video has decreased crime over the last decade? How many criminals are in prison because of surveillance video? How many criminals have been dissuaded from acting?
What you said!
Your church doesn’t have security cameras?
I thought we in Britain had a lot of CCTV in public places, but I’ve never seen a church with security cameras!
Yes, you are. CCTV doesn't require a human being present to run, it's automatic. A lot of Churches have CCTV recording 24/7/365 in case some heathen decides to vandalize it or steal something.
Easy solution. Put a combination lock on one door of the Church. Only those with the combination can gain entrance after hours for Adoration.
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