BCSO investigating pair of assaults on juveniles in the Cane Bay community

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Authorities in Berkeley County are investigating two incidents involving assaults on young girls in the Cane Bay community.

Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis said the department was notified during the evening of Nov. 27 that a juvenile female was assaulted on a trail in Cane Bay.

Sheriff Lewis said investigators began working in the Cane Bay area, but it took time for them to investigate and learn more about what happened, so they were not able to release more information until Monday.

“And then later, Saturday, December 2, we had another report of a female juvenile being assaulted in that same general area on the trail,” he said.

The assault reportedly happened around 7:00 p.m.

Officials said the 15-year-old girl was able to fight the attacker, and authorities believe he may have some type of injuries.

They are now processing evidence at the South Carolina Law Enforcement’s crime lab.

“The second victim reported that it’s a white male in his late teens or early 20s, about 5’7” or 5’8”, skinny build, facial hair on his chin,” said Sheriff Lewis.

Toni Ann Attigliato, who lives in Cane Bay, said she was concerned after hearing about the assaults. “I have two daughters. 18 and 22- my 18-year-old is still in high school so it concerns me because we do take the path, she does walk back and forth on the path,” she said,

Attigliato said she wishes the sheriff’s office had released more information sooner. She learned about it Saturday night after the second assault occurred.

“I understand that like there’s an investigation going on and I’m fine with those details being withheld. But we still should’ve been aware of it so that we could’ve talked to our children (and) made them aware,” she said.

We took those concerns to Sheriff Lewis. “The first time that they had heard that there was actually something going on like this was on OnPatrol Live Saturday. They’re watching it and then they realize this is serious and they wanted to know why didn’t they know about this before,” we asked. “Well, because it’s a juvenile and we don’t release a lot of information about juvenile crimes. And again it was a fluid situation, Investigators were investigating,” said Sheriff Lewis.

If you have any information that could help the investigation, you are encouraged to contact the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office at 843-719-4465.