Police investigating alleged sexual assault at Central Park

 

MISHAWAKA, Ind.-- The St. Joseph County Special Victim’s Unit is investigating allegations of a sexual assault to a teenage girl in Mishawaka’s Central Park on Easter.  

A woman who claims to be the victim’s mother spoke with ABC57’s Annie Kate on the phone.  

To protect the victim's identity, just 13 years old, we are not releasing her mother’s name now, but she tells us that her daughter should never have to have lived through this.  

She said her daughter went to play with friends at the park, saying she loved to skateboard and ride around. The woman said her daughter needed to be home at three in the afternoon, so when she was late, she called, and her daughter was hysterical.  

She claims she was assaulted in the port-a-potty at the park.

“I saw it on Facebook and it really kind of like put a pit in my stomach,” said Mishawaka Resident TeNessa Wise, “because when I was that age, I was down here all the time with my friends. I spent like every day that it was nice out, I spent down here.”

“It will definitely affect when my kids get older, me letting them go anywhere alone,” Wise continued.  

A spokesperson for the City of Mishawaka says there are security cameras throughout the parks, but local residents still feel unsettled after this latest incident.  

If you have any information or safety concerns, please contact the Mishawaka police at (574) 258-1678.  

And if you or anyone you know is in need of sexual assault victim resources, please know that help is out there.  

Visit the link for the YWCA of North Central Indiana here.