Police investigate reports of sexual assault of 7-year-old girl

Child told family she was accosted on way home from playground in Columbia

A 7-year-old Columbia girl reported that she was sexually assaulted Tuesday evening as she walked home from a neighborhood playground, according to Howard County police.

Police said the child told family members that four young men with dreadlock hairstyles accosted her around 7 p.m. in the 9600 block of Basket Ring Road as she walked home from a playground. Three had motor scooters, she said, and the fourth rode a bicycle.

She said they grabbed her and assaulted her, though police later said she was not raped.

The child told a family member, who took her to a hospital. No physical injuries were reported, police said.

The Baltimore Sun does not name the victims of alleged sexual assaults.

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