Girl raped by chatroom 'friend'

The pair exchanged mobile phone numbers via an internet site

A 15-year-old girl has been raped by a man she met through an internet chat service.

The teenager was attacked in Wigan, Greater Manchester, after meeting up with the man who police say had "groomed" her over several weeks.

She had met the man, who said he was called Simon, through an internet site run by the mobile phone firm T-mobile where they exchanged mobile phone numbers.

They exchanged text messages and spoke on the phone before arranging to meet at Wigan train station at 1230 BST on Monday.

From there, they walked through the town centre to Mesnes Park where he led her to the back of the basketball courts and raped her in broad daylight.

You cannot be sure who people really are and I would strongly advise against meeting people on your own Det Constable Vic Gaffney

The man then followed the girl as she walked back to the bus station, where they had an argument involving a bystander.

He tried to hug her, but she pushed him away, and he made his escape.

Detective Constable Vic Gaffney, of Greater Manchester Police, said: "I would like to issue a warning regarding the dangers of meeting up with people that they have met via the internet or via mobile text messaging.

"You cannot be sure who people really are and I would strongly advise against meeting people on your own."

Slight stutter

The attacker is white, aged about 24, six feet tall, slim, with shoulder-length blonde hair, a dyed red goatee beard and a moustache.

He said he had travelled from Liverpool's Lime Street station and may have spoken with a slight Liverpool accent and a slight stutter.

He wore dark blue jeans and a black jacket with long sleeves with the words Live Wild Die Free written on the back.

These guys only do these things because they think the chances of them being caught are nil or close to nil John Carr, NCH Action For Children

Mr Gaffney added: "We are appealing to anyone who may have seen this man and girl either in Wigan town centre or in the park to please contact us.

"We need to know what happened to the man after he left the bus station.

"Did anyone see him? Did he return to the train station to go back to Liverpool or did he go elsewhere?"

John Carr, from the charity NCH Action For Children, said chatroom providers should impose tougher checks on the identity of people who use them.

He said: "These guys only do these things because they think the chances of them being caught are nil or close to nil.

"What [children are] doing is they're bringing the whole world into their homes and they don't know who they're actually dealing with when they speak to them on the internet.

"It's a constant business for parents of reminding their kids: 'Don't let your guard down, remember you never really know who these people are and if you are going to meet somebody in real life, make sure you take a friend with you.'"