Boy, 17, charged with city centre sexual assaults in East Sussex

Police said the boy, who has not been named for legal reasons, appeared in custody at Brighton Youth Court today (Friday, December 6),.

He had been charged with sexually assaulting a woman in North Street on October 5 and a woman in Seymour Street on the following day, police said.

A spokesman said: "He entered a not guilty plea and was committed for trial, in custody, with a preliminary hearing at Lewes Crown Court on Friday, January 3, 2020.

"The arrest and charges followed an investigation by detectives from the Brighton Safeguarding Investigations Unit, working with local officers."

Operation Downgate is the ongoing police investigation into five offences in which women were sexually assaulted in Brighton city centre, including the incidents on the 5th and 6th,

The spokesman added: "Enquiries are also continuing into the other three incidents, in Ditchling Road on July 24 and in East Street on October 11 and in Kings Road on October 20. There have been no further incidents since October 20.

"Throughout the continuing investigation detectives had been considering possible links between the offences, including the consideration that the same person could have been responsible for all the attacks.

"However further detailed enquiries, including information from victims, further CCTV images and information from the public led the police to conclude that not all the attacks are linked and therefore were not all carried out by the same person."