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Updated: Fenway rape suspect may have tried to abduct child in Winchester – Metro US

Updated: Fenway rape suspect may have tried to abduct child in Winchester

The man arrested in connection with a violent sexual assault in the Fenway this week will also face charges for allegedly trying to abduct a child in Winchester.

Police believe 36-year-old Michael Purpura of Westwood attacked a 10-year-old girl in a tunnel by Skillings Field on Saturday, one day before he was taken into custody for allegedly raping a woman in her Boston apartment.

Winchester police responded to the field around 4:20 p.m. on Saturday for reports of an assault on a child near a walk-through tunnel by the field, according to a report.

The girl told officers a white man with a scruffy beard asked her what time it was, then walked away and reappeared as the girl was walking through the tunnel, placed his hand over her mouth and picked her up off the ground, according to a report. The girl kicked the man and was able to get away, running onto the field and contacting a group of adults, who called police, the report said.

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Officers identified the suspect, who they believe to be Purpura, in surveillance footage near the alleged attack, police said.

“This is a very disturbing case in which a man allegedly attacked a young girl,” Winchester Police Chief Kenneth Albertelli said in a statement. “Our detectives worked aggressively and diligently to put together a case, and I am grateful that this appears to be an isolated incident. I also want to recognize the victim in this case. Despite a terrible trauma and attempted abduction, this young girl had the presence of mind to fight off her attacker and immediately report what had happened to a group of adults. She is very brave.”

Anyone with additional information on this case is urged to contactthe Winchester Police Department at 781-729-1212.

Purpura was scheduled to face aggravated rape charges in court Monday stemming from an incident in the early hours of Tuesday, Sept. 15, in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood, according to police.

On Tuesday at about 12:30 a.m., police responded to reports of an assault near Queensbury Street in the Fenway, where the alleged victim told officers a man had forced her into her apartment and sexual assaulted her, police said.

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Investigators last week released surveillance video footage of a man they believed to be connected to the assault.

Participating in the investigation were the BPD Sexual Assault Unit, BPD Special Investigations Unit, transit police and departments in Westwood and Medford, according to a release.

In a release, police thanked “concerned community members who took the time to either call or text our anonymous tip lines.”