Source: Sunday Times
Author: Maurice Chittenden 
Contact:  
Pubdate: 21 Dec 1997

GIRL, 12, VICTIM OF 'DATE RAPE' DRUG

A 12YEAROLD girl has been raped by an attacker believed to be using the
"date rape" drug Rophynol. A man dragged the girl into a park and forced
her to drink a liquid from a bottle before raping her. 

The victim was found staggering along a road in Wythenshawe, Greater
Manchester, by police officers on Friday night. Her clothing was
bloodstained and she complained of feeling dizzy. The rapist had pounced as
the girl stood at a nearby bus stop. She suffered partial amnesia after the
attack. 

Police fear she may be the youngest victim yet of the drug, a tiny purple
tablet which, when slipped into a drink, produces a trancelike uninhibited
state. 

Two weeks ago Scotland Yard supported the launch of a national campaign by
the Roofie Foundation, a new charity, to highlight concerns about the drug. 

The drug, nicknamed Roofie, is designed to relief back pain. It is not on
the NHS list of prescribed drugs but is easily obtainable from private
clinics. 

Detective Superintendent Ian Seabridge, leading the hunt for the attacker,
said yesterday: "The girl was in a terrible state when she was found by the
officer. We need to catch this man was quickly as possible." 

The attacker was in his twenties, white, with shaven hair and wearing a
blue jacket with the Nike logo on the back. 

A chilling videotape of a child actress reenacting the evidence of a
nineyearold rape victim is to be played on television tomorrow 

Scotland Yard is using the shock tactic in a lastditch attempt to solve a
crime that horrified the nation: the rape of the girl in front of her
mother on Boxing Day last year. 

The actress will be seen in silhouette describing graphic details of the
assault at a flat in Northolt, northwest London.