Police investigating home invasion rape in West Philly

Police are looking for a suspect, believed to be a teenage boy, who allegedly broke into a woman’s apartment last month and repeatedly sexually assaulted her during a three-hour period.

Detectives released a sketch of the suspect Monday, saying he is approximately 16 years old.

The incident began when the woman woke up at around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 21, and saw the teen inside her apartment on the 400 block of S. 45th Street in West Philadelphia, authorities said.

He pulled out a knife and raped the victim multiple times for hours, police said, before fleeing through a basement window.

Investigators described him as a Black male with dark skin and a thin muscular build, weighing 150 to 160 pounds. He has brown eyes, though he may have been wearing green contact lenses, and braids that come to his eyebrows, police said.

Authorities added that a conversation he had with the victim suggests that he may have since cut or dyed his hair.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Central Detectives at 215-685-3264/3266; call or text 215-686-8477; or leave an anonymous tip at www.phillypolice.com/forms/submit-a-tip.