Hamilton police are appealing for witnesses to a sexual assault in the King Street East and Cochrane Road area.

Police issued a media release Monday saying they received a report of a sexual assault that happened at about 8:50 p.m. Thursday when a man walked up behind a female, wrestled her to the ground and sexually assaulted her before fleeing.

On Saturday, The Spectator reported that the mother of a teenaged girl is frightened after her daughter was allegedly assaulted Thursday outside their apartment building near Lawrence and Cochrane roads in east Hamilton.

The woman said her daughter was headed to a variety store near the corner of King and Cochrane in the Royal Bank Plaza around 8:30 p.m. to buy bus tickets for school the next morning.

The girl returned in a frantic state and told her mother she was almost raped. She told her mother a man came from behind and grabbed her buttocks before he put his hands up her shirt.

When she resisted and tried to shake him off, he started to drag her away by her arms. The walkway in the back of the apartment connects to two other highrise buildings and leads to King Street.

"She was down on the ground and she was screaming and kicking at him. While she was kicking, he pulled his pants down," the mother said.

While his pants were down, the girl told her mother he was holding himself with one hand.

As quickly as it began, he pulled his pants up and fled.

She got up and ran home. Her mother ran to a neighbour's place and called 911. She said the police arrived shortly after 9 p.m. and were taking pictures for hours.

On Friday, Hamilton police hadn't issued a news release to notify the media and public about the incident.

The girl's mother posted the details of the incident and a description of the man on Facebook to make people aware of the possible danger the man might pose in the neighbourhood and to warn them.

The police said in their news release Monday that the man is described as white, thin, in his 40s and about 6-feet-tall. He wore a long black coat with a hood, dark pants and dress shoes.

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Police are continuing to investigate and are interviewing witnesses and checking video surveillance from the area. They believe there were other witnesses in the area at the time of the incident.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 905-540-5545 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.