Police today said a report of a serious sexual assault of a girl near Farnley Academy last week has been found to be false.
Detectives have concluded their investigation after carrying out extensive enquiries into the report of an attack on a wooded path between Farnley Academy and Maple Croft on Wednesday, January 5.
A girl under the age of 16 had told police officers a man in his forties had sexually attacked her at around 3.30pm.
In a statement issued today, Temporary Detective Superintendent Tony Nicholson said:
“We always take any reports of such incidents very seriously and carry out extensive enquiries to establish the full circumstances.
“We fully appreciate the understandable concern that this report will have caused in the local community and we recognise the need to reassure people that we have now confirmed categorically that this was a false report.
“We are continuing to ensure the child involved and her family receive appropriate support and we would ask that people consider her welfare first and foremost in any view they may have on this matter.”
As reported by WLD yesterday, more than 2,100 people have signed a petition asking Farnley Academy to revise its strict mobile phone policies following Wednesday’s incident, and Old Farnley Community Centre is launching self defence lessons for boys and girls in the area.