BOURNEMOUTH MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO SEX ATTACKS ON WOMEN
A man named Craig Perkins has admitted to pushing women to the ground and sexually assaulting them during two frightening attacks.Initially pleading not guilty to two counts of sexual assault, Perkins changed his plea to guilty for an incident on September 13 last year and admitted a modified charge for a similar event on November 24.
A separate charge of assault by penetration was withdrawn.
The police had launched a manhunt last year to apprehend a serial sex offender.
In the November attack, a woman in her twenties was approached from behind and pushed to the ground on Boundary Road, Bournemouth, before being sexually assaulted.
When a passer-by intervened, the attacker fled on a bicycle.
This was the third reported incident in the area within two months involving a man attacking women from behind.
The September incidents also involved women in their twenties pushed from behind, with the attacker fleeing on a bike after the assaults.
Perkins, aged 28 and residing on Victoria Park Road, has been remanded in custody pending sentencing at Bournemouth Crown Court on May 5.
He is already required to sign the sex offenders register due to a previous conviction.
Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Derbyshire from Dorset Police’s Major Crime Investigation Team stated that stranger sex attacks like these are very rare in Dorset, emphasizing their commitment to investigation and justice.
She appreciated the victims' courage in reporting these crimes and thanked the public who aided them during the incidents.