Gardai believe the man who raped a 12-year-old schoolgirl in Clondalkin in west Dublin yesterday may be responsible for raping another young girl in the area earlier this year.
Yesterday's attack took place at Lealand Drive in Bawnogue, within yards of the girl's home.
Gardai describe the attacker as in his 20s, of stocky build and between 5 8["] and 5 9["] in height. He was said to have a scruffy appearance and to be wearing a grey pullover.
The girl was walking to the local Gaelscoil, St Killian's, shortly before 8.30 a.m. when she was set upon from behind. She was dragged off the pavement into a lane-way. Her face was covered with a pillow-case and she was threatened with a knife before being raped.
She raised the alarm by calling to a local house and was later taken to Tallaght Hospital, where she received counselling and medical treatment.
Chief Supt Mick Carolan of Crumlin Garda station, who is leading the investigation, confirmed the girl was sexually assaulted and raped.
He appealed for anyone with information, or who was in the area at the time, to come forward.
Detectives are seeking to establish whether the attack was connected to the rape of a 10-year-old girl in January at Lindisfarne Avenue, 100 yards from yesterday's crime scene. No one was arrested for that attack. The knife and pillow-case used in yesterday's rape were recovered by gardai, who have set up an incident room at Ronanstown Garda station. Extensive door-to-door inquiries have begun.
Mr John Horgan, whose house backs onto the lane where the attack occurred, said residents feared a serial rapist might be on the lose. "That's two rapes within a matter of weeks. It's shocking, especially that this could happen in broad daylight." Ms Caroline Long, of Lealand Drive, said the attack had stunned the area. "Normally you'd see loads of kids out playing on the streets but this evening there's no one out. Parents are afraid to let their kids leave the home."
The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, said the attack was brutal and sickening.
"That a young girl should suffer such a vicious attack on her way to school in broad daylight is deeply shocking, especially for her family and the local community."
She said her thoughts were with the victim's family. The Fine Gael spokesman on justice, Mr Jim Higgins TD, said the Minister for Justice should give priority to sex attacks against women.
"The huge increase in reported rapes and the fact that only 10 out of 300 sex offenders in jail are receiving intensive therapy points clearly to the fact that the Minister is not treating this issue with the seriousness it deserves," he said.
Meanwhile, gardai in Cork last night renewed their appeal for assistance in the case of an eight-year-old girl who was lured up a lane-way at Adelaide Place in the city last year and raped by a man in his late teens or early 20s.
Gardai interviewed more than 500 people and took DNA samples from a number of men in the area but have failed so far to identify the culprit.
A Garda spokesman said they still believed there may be someone who knows the identity of the rapist and they appealed to them to contact the gardai in confidence at either McCurtain Street station on 021-503337 or Mayfield station on 021-501145.
