Police are searching for a man who attacked, beat and sexually assaulted a woman near Coverstone on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old was walking in the 19000 block of Coverstone Drive just before 6:30 a.m. when a man grabbed, punched and then attempted to rape her, said Prince William police spokeswoman Erika Hernandez.
The woman suffered a broken nose, a laceration to her left leg and several abrasions to throughout her body, said Hernandez.
The man was described as black, 17 to 18 years old, 6 feet 2 to feet 4 inches tall, with a thin build. He was wearing eyeglasses with a brown tint, dark colored pants and a white T-shirt with blue and red stripes on the front.
The assault happened between a shopping center and apartment complexes in the area, Hernandez said.
Nationally, every two minutes someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted. The number has been falling since 1993, according to the Rape Abuse Incest National Network. There were 248,300 reported cases of sexual assault in the U.S. in 2007, according to RAINN.
Last year in Prince William County, there were 28 reported cases of rape, according to police statistics. The number was the same as the year prior.
Virginia Department of Health Statistics show 47 percent of reported sex assaults were perpetrated by a current or former husband. The state said 27 percent of assaults are committed by a current or former boyfriend.
And women, as victims, are not alone. Ten percent of reported cases in 2007 were committed by current or former wife on a man, according to statewide statistics.
Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.
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