By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

AN elderly woman was sexually assaulted during an armed robbery attack on Saturday, police said.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Shanta Knowles said the incident took place shortly after 2pm in a home in the eastern district of New Providence.

She said the woman was held at bay, robbed of cash and sexually assaulted before the assailant fled the house.

She said police believe the incident was random and not connected to any other recent instance of sexual assault.

A source told The Tribune the woman is in her mid-80s.

Though rare, sexual crimes against the elderly are not unprecedented. In 2014, a Royal Bahamas Defence Force officer was charged with attempting to rape a 78-year-old woman. That same year, a man was found guilty and sentenced to 11 years in prison for raping a 69-year-old woman.

The National Task Force for Gender Based Violence determined in 2016 that the Bahamas ranks number one for recorded rapes in the Caribbean region. From 2008 to 2012, annual police reports documented 9,045 instances where women were assaulted.

From 2003 to 2013, there were 1,109 reported rapes, The Tribune reported in 2016.

In January of this year, police said reported cases of unlawful sexual intercourse increased between 2016 and 2017 from 87 to 107.