By Janice Morse
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HAMILTON - A 17-year-old is being held on charges he beat and raped a 57-year-old woman volunteering her time to help him in a program at the Hamilton YWCA.

"The victim was pummeled - and we consider this a heinous crime," said Sgt. Thomas E. Kilgour, Hamilton police spokesman.

The woman told police that a male came up behind her, "began to choke her," then struck her numerous times in the face and head Friday, a report says.

The attack occurred between 8:30 and 9 a.m. in a basement classroom of the YWCA, 244 Dayton St.

The woman was taken to Fort Hamilton Hospital. No information on her condition was released, but a police report says she suffered "numerous lacerations and abrasions" on her face and neck.

Police say the teen suspect was being held on delinquency counts of rape and felonious assault at the Butler County Juvenile Detention Center. He was scheduled for a Juvenile Court appearance Monday. Greg Stephens, a Butler County assistant prosecutor who oversees juvenile cases, could not be reached.

The teen comes from the Cincinnati area, police said, but he was arrested at a Hamilton home where he had been staying.

Police said they think he may live in a group home, but they were still gathering details about the youth's background - information that might suggest whether authorities would seek to try the youth as an adult.

E-mail jmorse@enquirer.com