Nanny beaten in Brisbane was also sexually assaulted, police say

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jan/17/nanny-beaten-in-brisbane-was-also-sexually-assaulted-police-say

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A nanny who was savagely beaten in a random attack in northern Brisbane was also sexually assaulted, police have revealed.

Detectives are trying to catch the sexual predator but say there have not been any similar attacks in the Petrie area, where the 24-year-old au pair was attacked while out for a walk on 25 November.

The woman suffered serious head and facial injuries, including a broken nose, and had to undergo surgery. She returned to her homeland of Poland in December.

Detectives have identified all but three people who were caught on security cameras near where the attack occurred, as the woman went for her usual walk about 9pm that Friday night.

Their attention is focused on a male riding a pushbike who had a brown and white dog with him, a woman who was caught on camera and an older person on a motorcycle. Police want all three to come forward to rule them out of the investigation and have refused to say if the cameras captured the attack itself.

“The main interest at the moment is those three persons,” Detective Senior Constable Clinton Olsson said on Tuesday. “We’re saying they’re persons of interest, not suspects, but we need to rule them out of any involvement.”

Police didn’t reveal the sexual nature of the attack earlier, to protect the victim.

“It was of a sexual nature and it was a serious category of that,” Olsson said. “It was a very horrific attack … it does appear to be a completely random attack.”

Police have previously released images of a distinctive belt buckle found at the scene. Forensic tests on the buckle, which bears a cross with the Star of David in the middle, are continuing, along with tests on other items found at the scene.