Police in Lancashire investigating the sexual assault of a woman in her own home have released CCTV images of a suspect.
The woman was confronted in her bedroom in Colne, Lancashire, by a man who had got into the house through a window, police said.
He grabbed the victim by the face and tried to remove her clothes before committing a serious sexual assault in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Det Ch Insp Gary Brooks said it was a "predatory and sinister attack".
The offender is described as possibly Asian, in his late twenties, between 5ft 2ins to 5ft 5ins tall with a moustache and facial stubble. He was wearing a baseball cap with a motif on the front and a peak that was lighter than the rest of the hat, a dark jacket and white Nike trainers with red laces.
Lancashire Police are linking the incident to two others in Nelson and Barrowford in July and August.
The first incident took place at a house on Hawthorne Grove in Barrowford at
5.40am on Saturday, July 23rd when a 70-year-old woman woke up to find a man standing over her bed after he is thought to have got in through an open upstairs window. He left when she shouted at him.
The second incident took place on Saturday, August 13th at an address on Bispham Road in Nelson when a 49-year-old woman was asleep on her sofa in her lounge. At around 4.10am she woke to see a man standing over her and when she shouted at him to leave, he then made off from the house. He is also thought to have entered the address via an insecure ground floor window.
DCI Brooks added: “If the three incidents have indeed been committed by the same man, we can see that his behaviour has been escalating and has culminated in this serious sexual assault on Saturday. It is important that we find him as soon as possible.”
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