BY DAVID ECK
Enquirer Contributor
MASON -- Police are searching for a man accused of raping a 12-year-old girl early Saturday, the second such assault in this city in the past four months.
The girl was assaulted in a back yard on Brookcrest Drive by a man wearing a dark ski mask who had been hiding in a carport. Police were called to the residence about 3:30 a.m.
A 14-year-old girl was raped April 13 on Essex Drive, about a mile from Brookcrest, police said. In both attacks, the man wore a dark ski mask and assaulted the girls in the early morning.
"The general descriptions are very similar," Mason Police Chief Ron Ferrell said Thursday. "There are no prime suspects, but we are running down a number of leads."
Police are looking for a white man, approximately 5-foot-10, who was wearing tan shorts, a dark-colored shirt and the ski mask on Saturday.
The mask has prevented Saturday's victim from providing more information.
"Right now, she certainly is not recognizing him," said the chief. "She cannot identify him in any way at this point."
Police are interviewing residents in the area, and detectives and other officers have canvassed the neighborhood, Chief Ferrell said.
Rapes are rare in this quiet but growing Warren County city, police said. They could not provide statistics, however.
"This is very unusual for our city in any neighborhood," Chief Ferrell said.
Anyone who has information about either attack is asked to call Detective Patrick Ellis at 573-3354.
