Detectives call off investigation following rape report in Essington

Detectives have called off a rape investigation in Essington after the original report was later found to be inaccurate.

On Wednesday night (5 June), we received a call saying a teenage girl had been raped by a man in Essington Pools, off Brownshore Lane.

Since then, we’ve been supporting the girl and carrying out extensive enquiries in the area to investigate what happened.

We can now confirm that the investigation has been called off. After speaking with those involved, we established the original report was inaccurate and the rape had not taken place.

Officers are continuing to speak to the teenage girl about what happened today (7 June).

We take any reports of rape and sexual offences extremely seriously and will continue to support victims as part of our investigation. It’s vital that we take robust action with reports of sexual crimes from the outset.

We’d like to thank everyone who engaged with officers in the area yesterday and for those who came forward with information following the appeal.

We understand the distress felt locally as a result of the original report yesterday, and hope this update provides reassurance.