8-Year Old Girl Assaulted By 14-Year Old Boy at Cherry Hill Park Friday
A 14-year old boy was arrested after physically and sexually assaulting an 8-year old girl at Cherry Hill Park Friday night, police reported today.
Officers responded to the Falls Church park at 9:30 p.m., Friday, August 29, where the victim told police she was physically and sexually assaulted by the 14-year old suspect on two occasions that evening. Police say the suspect ran away after the first incident was interrupted by an adult but soon returned and assaulted the girl again. The victim called out and adults nearby approached before the suspect ran off again. The suspect was then pointed out to police after they responded to the call.
The 14-year old suspect has been charged with two counts of abduction, one count of sexual assault and one count of simple assault. He is being held in a juvenile detention facility.
The incident occurred during the City of F.C.’s Sunset Cinema showing of a movie at Cherry Hill Park. Friday’s event was the last movie of the summer.
In a press release, City of Falls Church Police Capt. Richard Campbell said “”This is an isolated event. We thank the adults who acted on a situation that seemed suspicious.”
3:22 AM
Where were the parents of this EIGHT YEAR OLD CHILD during all of this? Seems like this attack took more than a few seconds. Just horrified!
8:28 AM
This was during the movie night, right? Groups of kids are running around….need to have further details before blaming parents.
12:41 PM
Agree. An 8 year old should be able to play during movie night without her parents constant watch.
10:11 AM
Uh – an 8 year old child is old enough to play on a playset while the parents on the grass, at the movie. There are kids everywhere during the movie. How about laying blame on the 14 year old who did this??
By the way – was impressed with the police during this. We didn’t know what was happening at the time, but they arrived; walked around; found the teen; got him up and out of there. Most of the kids watching the movie didn’t even notice.
12:45 PM
Why would a 14 year old even conceive that this behavior is ok? Studies show that talking to kids in high school about sexual assault and behavior can prevent sexual assaults in university. I hope that GMHS finds a way to have these discussions with kids throughout their HS years to prevent it now and then.
4:23 PM
14 year old…might need to have this education at MEHMS
1:27 PM
You are blaming the parents of the 8 year old. Really? Get a F’n clue, Galcius!
7:45 PM
Of course during movie night kids are running around and parents can’t watch them constantly, but this happened twice in one night??? I would have thought an adult would be watching over the child after the first incident. However, as others noted there were not enough details in the article to really know what happened.