Boy arrested over alleged attempted sexual assault in Kooyong

Police have arrested a 13-year-old boy in an investigation into an alleged sexual assault attempt on two women who were walking their dogs in Kooyong.

Footage obtained by this masthead from July shows a person running from a pack of eight dogs on the banks of Gardiners Creek, after he allegedly attempted to grab a 67-year-old woman and a 39-year-old woman .

Victoria Police arrested the boy at his residence about 7.30 am on Thursday.

He was subsequently interviewed by detectives but released “pending further investigation, including enquiries into whether he may be linked to any other reported incidents of a similar nature.”

In July, police said the person had jumped out of a bush and put his arms around one of the two women, who managed to push him away.

The person then went towards the second woman, who also pushed him away.

“The victims’ dogs then chased the male into a nearby tunnel under the Monash Freeway,” officers said at the time in a statement.

On Thursday, police thanked the public for their assistance in the investigation.

“We received a number of valuable pieces of information from the community, including reports made through Crime Stoppers, which greatly assisted our investigation,” Acting Detective Senior Sergeant Wise said.

The footage shows a grey dog appearing to catch up with the person and making contact with his left leg.

A piece of the person’s clothing was torn off during the pursuit, according to police.

The person can be heard yelling something angry in response before taking off towards the freeway underpass.

One of the victims of the alleged attempted sexual assault told 3AW that she was “gobsmacked” that the person arrested was just 13 years old.

“[Police] called me today just to let me know that he’d been arrested and said he’s 13, and I’m like, oh my god... he’s a child.”