Court approves detention of suspect in daylight sexual assault attempt

Taipei, Oct. 29 (CNA) A district court has approved a request by prosecutors to detain a young man suspected of attempting to sexually assault a girl under the age of 14 in broad daylight last week.

Prosecutors believe the suspect may have engaged in aggravated forced obscenity and attempted sexual assault, and filed a motion on Monday to have him detained.

The Taoyuan District Court agreed to the request on Tuesday, saying it issued the order given the severity of the harm allegedly caused by the defendant's behavior.

The court said that while it did not see any evidence suggesting that releasing the defendant would pose a risk of witness tampering, it felt there was a legitimate concern that repeat offenses could be committed.

The court did not rule, however, that the suspect be held incommunicado.

If found guilty, the suspect, who just turned 18, could face at least five years in jail, prosecutors said the previous day, without offering more specifics on the evidence they had collected.

The Oct. 27 incident, which occurred in Taoyuan's Guishan District, surfaced after the victim's parents posted a video online showing her screaming for help as a man, who reportedly has a history of mental illness, grabbed her in a covered walkway in broad daylight.

According to the parents, their daughter screamed for help for 27 seconds before a passerby rescued her and took her to the police station to report the matter.

In a phone interview with the media on Monday, the girl's mother said her daughter was on her way to meet a classmate and followed a route she had taken alone two or three times before.

Her daughter unexpectedly encountered the man who demanded in a harsh tone that she come closer, prompting the girl to sense danger and quickly call for help, the mother said.