Wellington – A 14-year-old girl was sexually assaulted Sunday by an intruder who may have used a hidden spare key to get inside her home.
Larimer County sheriff’s officials said the girl was not able to give a detailed description, but they were interviewing suspects Sunday morning.
“Tell everybody that there is a pervert somewhere in Wellington,” the girl’s grandmother said.
The girl was home alone in the 3700 block of Boxelder Court when the man entered the house early Sunday, the grandmother said.
The girl’s mother thought the girl was staying at a friend’s house, the grandmother said, and a key to the house, kept hidden under a flowerpot, was missing.
The girl told her grandmother she awoke to find a bald man standing over her bed. The man held a pillow over her face and assaulted her, she said.
“She did everything she could to get away from him,” the grandmother said, “but he held her down. … We’re all very upset.”
At about 3 a.m. the girl called 911 and ran to a neighbor’s house.
The Denver Post does not identify victims of sexual assault.
“It’s just terrible,” said Mary Jo Watson, the neighbor. “I’m just glad I happened to be awake.”
Residents in this community of about 2,600 north of Fort Collins expressed concern over the assault.
“That is disgusting,” said Pat Green, who moved to the neighborhood a few weeks ago. “It’s getting to be that you can’t live anywhere. This was a quiet little town. That’s why we liked it.”
Neighbor Eric Olson said he wondered if the intruder could have wandered over from the town’s centennial celebration just blocks away.
“This really makes me nervous,” Olson said. “We have two boys.”
The grandmother said: “People need to know that this (man) is out there. We have to get him.”
Staff writer George Merritt can be reached at 720-929-0893 or gmerritt@denverpost.com.
