State Police are investigating an incident early this morning in which a woman was sexually assaulted and then thrown into the Charles River near Massachusetts Avenue, State Police and the Suffolk County District Attorney's office report.
Authorities say they do not yet know if the attack is linked to a series of other sexual attacks in recent years along the Esplanade - or to a non-sexual attack in the same area in June in which a woman was also thrown in the river.
The victim, a 20-year-old student at a local college, did not at first report the attack to police, but instead to a man who wound up with her purse and who went to BU Police to report her story and turn in her purse, according to the DA's office. State Police used identification in the purse to find her.
State Police say she declined medical attention and did not provide a description of her assailant.
The DA's office and State Police have long urged anybody walking along the Esplanade at night:
To be vigilant, to travel with friends if possible, stay in well-lit areas, avoid one-on-one contact with strangers, and not accept rides from strangers. Anyone out in these areas is urged to carry a cell phone and should call 911 to immediately be connected to State Police if they are if they are in trouble or feel threatened.
In the earlier cases - and a similar attack at Moakley Park in South Boston - the victims described their assailant as a clean-shaven African-American male in his mid-20s to mid-30s, 5'8" to 5'10" and a shaved head.
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