Teen Girls Throw Rocks To Escape Attempted Sexual Assault At CT State Park: Police

SOUTHBURY, CT — Two teenage girls escaped an attempted sexual assault at Kettletown State Park after throwing rocks at a man who attacked them and threatened them with a knife, according to a Connecticut DEEP Environmental Conservation Police incident report.

According to the incident report, the girls were hiking along Kettletown Brook when a man, later identified as Darius Moreno, 23, of Southbury, approached them from behind. Moreno put one of the girls in a chokehold and held a knife to her throat.

Police said Moreno then forced the girls deeper into the woods, pulling one victim by her hair.

When the other victim tried to call 911, Moreno pushed her face into the ground and covered her mouth and nose, restricting her ability to breathe. Both girls suffered cuts to their legs and minor injuries while trying to fight him off.

The incident report states that the girls pleaded with Moreno to stop, and he removed one victim's pants. The other girl grabbed a large rock and struck him in the back of the head before throwing additional rocks, allowing the other victim to break free.

The girls ran from the woods screaming for help and were assisted by other park visitors, the report states.

Police arrested Moreno at the park.

According to the report, Moreno admitted to police he had been hiking at Kettletown State Park when he saw the two girls and followed them. He said he had "a history of watching forceful pornography which turned into a sexual assault fantasy," in a statement to police.

Moreno was initially held on a $250,000 bond before appearing Tuesday in Waterbury Superior Court, where Judge Hunchu Kwak increased his bond to $1.5 million, according to court records.

Moreno is charged with:

• First-degree robbery
• Two counts of criminal attempt to commit third-degree sexual assault
• Two counts of first-degree unlawful restraint
• Third-degree strangulation
• Two counts of second-degree threatening
• Two counts of third-degree assault
• Two counts of second-degree breach of peace
• Interfering with an emergency call
• Carrying a dangerous weapon
• Disorderly conduct

During Tuesday's arraignment, prosecutors said they intend to add two counts of first-degree kidnapping. As of Wednesday afternoon, those charges had not yet appeared in the online court docket.