SALIDA, Colo. (AP) – Investigators believe a 15-year-old boy from suburban Colorado Springs is responsible for two attempted sex assaults at the Monarch Mountain ski area.
The boy was arrested Tuesday in Monument and was being held at the Pueblo Youth Correctional Facility, Chaffee County undersheriff John Spezze said.
The attempted assaults happened on Dec. 19 and Jan. 1 and both involved teen girls. In both cases, the sheriff’s office says the suspect rode the ski lift with the victims, followed them down a ski run and forced them into the woods to try to sexually assault them. In the second attack, he fired a handgun. Both girls escaped.
The boy, who isn’t being identified because he is a juvenile, hasn’t been charged yet.
No other arrests are expected.
The sheriff’s office has been criticized for waiting until after the second attack to notify the public but it says the first victim did not provide enough details for a public warning.
