Police have released the mug shot of a man suspected of assaulting a young tourist in San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf neighborhood early Tuesday morning.
The man has been identified as 18-year-old Christopher Dutel, a Southern California resident, according to police.
Police received word around 2:30 a.m. that a juvenile girl, a tourist from out of the country (police would not disclose which one), had gone missing from the group she was with, police Sgt. Daryl Fong said.
He said the girl had “voluntarily separated” from the group earlier in the evening.
Officers searched the area and found the girl in the 400 block of North Point Street, which is between Taylor and Mason, around 3:45 a.m., Fong said. She was with the suspect, who was taken into custody on suspicion of assault.
The girl and the suspect were taken separately to a hospital to be treated for injuries that are not considered life-threatening, Fong said.
Fong initially said the nature of the attack was still under investigation, but police said Tuesday afternoon they have determined the girl was sexually assaulted.
Fong did not have information about the group the girl was with or the circumstances of her disappearance.
The Ex reports that two people they spoke with said “they saw the girl with a young homeless individual in front of a nearby 7-Eleven on Mason Street.”
SFPD reviewed surveillance footage from the 7-Eleven, the Ex reports.
Dutel has been booked into jail on suspicion of sexual assault and false imprisonment, police said.
Sasha Lekach of Bay City News contributed significantly to this report
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