Girl, 11, raped on the way from school in UK

An 11-year-old girl in England was reportedly raped as she walked home from school.

The victim was left so distressed by the alleged attack weeks ago that she only found the courage to report it recently, a Sussex Police spokeswoman said.

The girl told police she was pushed into bushes on a footpath between Blackwater Lane and Balcombe Road, Crawley, where she was allegedly raped.

Detective Inspector James Norbury, from the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team, said: “This was an extremely distressing incident for the young victim who has only just built up the courage to report it and she and her family are now being supported by specially trained officers.

“Although she can’t remember the exact day it happened, she believes it is around September 22.

“It was light and a busy time of day so we are appealing to anyone who might have been in that area of Maidenbower around 3pm.”

The girl’s alleged attacker was aged about 40, with ginger and grey hair, ginger face stubble and he was wearing a black fleece beanie hat and a knee-length khaki-coloured coat, police said.