Police: Girl assaulted at Durham school bus stop

The girl was at the bus stop near the intersection of Cornwallis and Century Oaks roads at about 6:50 a.m. when a man approached her on foot and assaulted her, police said.

Durham Public Schools administrators declined to say which school the girl attends, but Tina Ingram, the district's director of security, said officials are working with local law enforcement "to ensure student safety."

The assailant was described as a black man with a dark complexion, 17 to 19 years old, 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet tall with a skinny build. He had shoulder-length braids or “twists” and a slight mustache and goatee. He was last seen wearing a long-sleeved pink shirt and blue jeans.

Renee Bethea, who lives in the Country Scene Apartment Homes complex on Century Oaks Drive, said she has worried for quite some time about the lack of lighting in the neighborhood.

"I tell any young lady, 'Don't go anywhere by yourself walking to get the bus – school bus or the city bus by yourself. It's dangerous,'" Bethea said Monday. "I wish they'd put street lights up in here because it's too dark."

Bethea said she found a police flier on her front door Monday morning asking for public assistance to identify the man. She said she's anxious for an arrest in the case.

"If you don't catch him, he's going to do it to somebody else," she said. "That's real frightening. If he did it here, he'll go somewhere else and do it."

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Durham Police Department at 919-560-4440, extension 29331, or Crime Stoppers at 919-683-1200.