DETROIT – Police have made an arrest in the sexual assault of a 63-year-old woman on Detroit’s west side.
The woman was beaten and sexually assaulted in the overgrown front yard of a vacant church in the area of Joy Road and Martindale Street.
Police said the woman was left in the vacant yard all night until she was found the next morning. She is still hospitalized and on life support. Police said a tip from the public led them to the suspect.
The attack highlights a dramatic spike in sexual assaults this year in Detroit.
“One key statistic I want to bring to the board’s attention relates to sexual assault cases,” Detroit police Chief James White said.
White said sex crimes are up 22% in the city. He said the spike is concerning.
“Because last year, with COVID, was such an anomaly, and people were sheltered in place -- they didn’t have opportunities to report. They didn’t have normal interaction. Young folks weren’t in school. People didn’t have the same opportunities they had to report as they did in 2019,” White said.
In 2019, there were 772 reported sexual assaults. In 2019, there were only 562 cases. This year, the number has risen back up to 714 so far.
Police said they are focused on sex crimes and lowering the number of them.
“Consistently, if we have any trends that suggest that we have a sexual predator or something along those lines, that we need to be focused on. And the data and the information we have at this time just does not bear that out,” White said.