A 17-year-old boy has been charged with carrying out two sex attacks in Brighton.
Sussex Police said: “Police in Brighton have charged a 17-year-old boy with two sexual assaults on women in the city centre during October.
“The boy appeared in custody at Brighton Youth Court on Friday (6 December) charged with sexually assaulting a woman in North Street on (Saturday) 5 October and a woman in Seymour Street on the following day.
“He entered a not guilty plea and was committed for trial, in custody, with a preliminary hearing at Lewes Crown Court on Friday 3 January 2020.
“The arrest and charges followed an investigation by detectives from the Brighton Safeguarding Investigations Unit, working with local officers.
“Information about the attacks was publicly released during October and November.
“Operation Downgate is the ongoing police investigation into five offences in which women were sexually assaulted in Brighton city centre.”
The investigation covers the incidents on Saturday 5 October and Sunday 6 October and the police appealed for witnesses in relation to all five assaults.
Sussex Police added: “Inquiries are also continuing into the other three incidents – in Ditchling Road on (Wednesday) 24 July and in East Street on (Friday) 11 October and in King’s Road on (Sunday) 20 October.”
The force said that there had been no further incidents since Sunday 20 October, adding: “Throughout the continuing investigation detectives had been considering possible links between the offences, including the consideration that the same person could have been responsible for all the attacks.
“However, further detailed inquiries, including information from victims, further CCTV images and information from the public, led the police to conclude that not all the attacks are linked and therefore were not all carried out by the same person.”
