Teenager arrested for raping 15-year-old

Police arrested a 15-year-old Rishon Lezion boy on Tuesday for raping a girl of the same age last week, but also released another suspect, who had been held for days, and who was cleared of all connection with the case.

Police arrested the teen in the morning and during questioning he confessed to the crime, admitting he forced himself on the victim.

However, after later meeting with his defense council, the suspect changed his version of events to say that they had consensual sex and that he remembers nothing of the act because he was drunk at the time, Channel 2 reported.

Another teen, 17, who had been held by police for three days while protesting his innocence, was released after a DNA test proved he had nothing to do with the incident.

The rape happened last Thursday and investigations showed that the victim was attacked at dawn during her daily bike ride.

Police officials said there is evidence putting the new suspect at the crime scene as well footage from a security camera that shows the victim and her alleged assailant during the incident.

Investigators are also looking into testimonies and evidence pointing toward the teen being under the influence of alcohol at the time, including a statement from the victim.

The suspect is accused of stopping the victim, also a resident of Rishon Lezion, and then dragging her to a secluded spot off the bike path, where he brutally attacked, stripped and raped her. He then fled the scene.

The Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court extended the arrest of the suspect for five days after police presented evidence tying him to the crime scene.