Girl, 13, ‘raped while walking through woodland’ as boy, 16, arrested

A 16-year-old boy has been arrested after a teenage girl was reportedly raped while walking through a woodland area.

South Yorkshire Police said the 13-year-old victim was attacked while walking in woodland off Lane End in the Chapeltown area of Sheffield on Monday.

The reported assault happened between 6.15pm and 6.45pm.

The assailant is alleged to have approached and assaulted her, before fleeing the scene on foot.

Detectives said the teenage boy arrested is known to the girl.

He is currently being held on suspicion of rape of a female aged 16 or under.

The victim and her family are being supported by specially trained officers.

Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics have shown reports of rape and sexual assault have been increasing.

In the year ending March 2022, over 70,000 rape offences were recorded by police in England and Wales - an increase of 26% compared to the year before.

In total, police recorded rape and sexual offences were the highest on record, with over 200,000 being reported to police in that year alone.

If you have information which could help officers with the alleged rape in Sheffield, please contact them using live chat, the online portal or by calling 101.

Please quote incident number 899 of 8 August 2022.

Alternatively, you can pass on information anonymously to independent charity Crimestoppers via their website – www.crimestoppers-uk.org – or by calling their UK Contact Centre on 0800 555 111.