Ryan Chartrand
Following an alleged sexual assault of an 18-year-old woman Thursday evening in the downtown area, police have arrested a man matching the description given by the victim.
At about 8 p.m. on Thursday, a local resident notified the San Luis Obispo Police Department that a young woman had appeared at the front door, saying she had been sexually assaulted in the San Luis Obispo Creek, authorities said. The woman was reportedly wet and partially clothed.
The young woman told police she had been sexually assaulted in the creek area behind The Creamery, located at 570 Higuera St. Following a thorough description of the suspect and the situation, police said they detained a man matching the description within 40 minutes. The man was identified as 33-year-old Avril King of San Luis Obispo and was placed under arrest for forcible rape, police said.
King was later booked at the San Luis Obispo County Jail and bail was set at $100,000.
It is not yet known whether Thursday’s incident has any connection to a series of sexual assaults that took place in 2007 in the San Luis Obispo area. For Cal Poly student Chelsea Brown, a report of yet another sexual assault is “unnerving.”
“I don’t feel like I’m in danger, but then you hear all these things,” said the theater junior who lives only blocks away from where the assault took place.
“My roommates and I walk down there all the time.”
Police also noted that King and the victim were acquainted, but the incident was not considered “date rape.”
