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Colombian teen faces Vic rape charges

A 17-year-old boy is facing multiple rape charges over a series of sex attacks across Melbourne’s CBD in the past three months.

Police had linked three alleged rapes and the stalking of at least three women to the same man, who was targeting women who were walking in and around the city’s CBD either late at night or early in the morning.

Police arrested a teenager, who is from Colombia, around midday on Friday in connection with the unsolved sexual assaults dating back to November, a police spokeswoman said.

He was found at a campsite near Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road after a tip off from the public and driven back to Melbourne to be questioned by detectives.

The 17-year-old was then charged with six counts of rape on Saturday.

He is also facing two assault charges with intent to rape, one count of robbery, three counts of stalking, two counts of intentionally causing injury, two counts of recklessly causing injury and one count of abduction.

He will remain in custody until his first court appearance on Tuesday, to be held in a children’s court.

CCTV footage released last week by investigators showed a man riding a skateboard around bars, nightclubs and near public transport stops.

In the most recent alleged attack, a 22-year-old woman was grabbed from behind last weekend and forced into a secluded city stairwell near Southern Cross train station.

Police allege her attacker held a weapon and sexually assaulted her for at least 20 minutes.

Other women have reported being followed and having to lock themselves in toilet cubicles to escape the attacker, while others reported being assaulted in the street as they walked home.

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