KEY POINTS:
A young Taranaki woman was subjected to a "brutal" sex attack in the early hours of Christmas Day.
The 22-year-old woman was attacked and sexually assaulted by a group of men in a carpark opposite St Joseph's church in Hawera, between midnight and 1.30am, police said.
The incident occurred after a street party in the town on Christmas Eve.
Hawera CIB detective constable Guy Jackson said police believed more than one man was involved in the attack.
The woman was walking alone along High St when she was grabbed.
"She has been forcibly taken down an alleyway between High St and Cornish's car park, where she was subjected to a brutal sexual assault," Mr Jackson told the Taranaki Daily News.
Police are appealing for any information that could lead to the identification of the men involved.
They were particularly interested in hearing from a "good Samaritan" who waited with the distressed woman for her family to pick her up.
"He may have heard or seen something without realising it," Mr Jackson said.
A forensic examination of the scene had been completed and a number of exhibits sent to ESR in Wellington for further analysis.
The victim was "extremely traumatised" by what had happened, Mr Jackson said.
- NZPA
