MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. - It's supposed to be a sanctuary, but instead it turned into the most unexpected place for an attack.
Middletown police right now are looking for a man who sexually assaulted a woman inside a local church. They got a good look at him thanks to surveillance video that was rolling during the entire attack.
The attack happened just after midnight on Wednesday. The victim, a volunteer at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Middletown, was volunteering during perpetual adoration when the church is kept open for paying respect over the Eucharist.
"Well, Middletown is a small city, 26,000 residents," Middletown Police Chief Matthew Byrne told CBS 2 HD. "A crime like this has a chilling effect on the entire community. This is an active and open investigation. We're following up on every lead. Credit the victim in this case for fighting off this vicious and heinous attacker."
The suspect is a white male with brown hair, about 6-feet tall and is seen in the video wearing cut-off blue-jean shorts and a red "Aeropostale" shirt.
As seen on the video, the suspect walks in and sits down in a pew. Then out of nowhere he leaps on top of the woman, holding her down and groping her.
They struggle for a while before the victim takes her pen and stabs him in the neck, fighting him off. He flees and she calls police. The attack happened in less than a minute.
Police believe the suspect is a local and are desperate to get him off the streets.
"She was participating in perpetual adoration, which is a 24-hour watch in a Catholic chapel," Chief Byrne reiterated.”As a sign of respect, they hold vigil over the Eucharist. She was making notes in a notepad and fought off the attacker repeatedly with her pen by stabbing him in the neck. And that was enough to buy her time and scare him off, and I credit her."
