Sex attack probe continues

Information from the public is trickling in to police investigating the brutal sexual assault of a woman by four men in Tokoroa last weekend.

But so far that information has not yet led to arrests.

The 23-year-old woman was walking alone on Kelso St about 3am on Sunday when a passing utility vehicle with four men inside stopped nearby.

Two men jumped from the back of the ute and chased the woman on to a side street and tackled her. The other two men helped hold her down while she was sexually assaulted.

They were scared off by a combination of the woman's screams, an elderly man walking down the road and a nearby property light being turned on.

Detective Senior Sergeant Todd Pearce said today the investigation was progressing.

"We've had some information filtering in from the public and that information is being worked through," he told NZPA.

"That hasn't led to any significant change or our locating the vehicle or offenders at this stage, but it's a matter of progressing through what we are getting and other inquiries we're making as well."

Mr Pearce said it had been a traumatic event for the woman.

"She's trying to do what she can with the support we're providing and victim support."

Mr Pearce said the ute was described as matt black, with chrome mag wheels and a loud exhaust, and that there was a small couch on the tray of the ute at the time of the attack.

The men were described as fair-skinned Maori or Polynesians aged between 20 and 24.

"This was an extremely frightening crime for this victim to endure, however it is entirely solvable," Mr Pearce said.

"We need information from the Tokoroa community to help identify those responsible and prevent them from doing this to anyone else. I am sure that someone in the community can identify the offenders responsible from the description of their vehicle."

Meanwhile there have been no arrests yet for the alleged sexual assault of a teenage girl in Dannevirke last Friday.

The 16-year-old girl told police she was walking from Guy Street about 7pm when she was approached by two men in a silver car, similar to a Subaru.

She kept walking but the passenger then jumped out of the car, grabbed her and bundled her into the front seat.

The car was driven to Umutaoroa Road where the men bundled her over a wire fence into a nearby paddock, where she was sexually assaulted.

Police have appealed for help from anyone who saw the four-door sedan, which has a dent in the rear bumper and with its back number plate on an angle.

The driver was Maori, of big build, about 1.8m tall and aged about 25. He was wearing a singlet and track pants. He had a spiral tattoo on right upper arm.

The passenger was Maori, of small build, with blue eyes. Both had their faces covered.

- NZPA