Denver Woman Warns Others After Alarming Encounter With Boy
DENVER (CBS4) - A Denver woman's afternoon walk with her dogs around Westerly Creek Park took a scary turn. She claims she was groped by a child in broad daylight after he asked her for a ride home.
"I never really thought I'd have to worry about a kid," said the woman who did not want to be identified.
It all started on a trail near a bridge at 26th Avenue and Beeler Street. Westerly Creek Park falls between Denver and Aurora. Aurora police is currently investigating her case.
"I came across a little boy sitting by himself under the bridge embankment. I passed by him and I said 'Hello,'" the woman told CBS4's Andrea Flores. "He told me that he liked my dogs. I said, 'They're very friendly.' I started talking to him and let him pet my dogs, and I was like, 'Okay, I have to go now.'"
She says the boy, who claimed to be 13, then followed her to her car.
"Every time I would walk away, he would try and get my attention," she said. "He asked me for a ride home, and of course I was very hesitant because he's a child, I just felt bad for him."
She finally agreed.
That ride to what she believed was his home led her into a nearby Aurora neighborhood.
"We were probably a couple of blocks from the address he gave me, and I turned to look at him and I realized that he was basically exposing himself," she said. "I immediately pulled over, had some choice words for him, and tried to kick him out of my car. He wouldn't leave. He wouldn't get out."
The woman was shocked by what happened next.
"As I leaned over to close my door and drive off, he reached back in and grabbed my breast and ran away," the woman recalled.
She posted about the incident on social media.
"Within 24 hours I got two messages from two complete strangers who basically said that he was under the bridge and had approached them within about an hour and a half after I had dropped him off at his address, only he was wearing different clothes," said the woman.
Now, she's worried there could be more victims.
"Be safe out there, be aware of your surroundings, and keep your guard up," she said.
The boy is described as soft spoken with an accent, and has dark hair and dark skin. The woman says even though he claimed to be 13 years old, he looked younger. She says, so far, Aurora police hasn't located the alleged suspect.