Sexual assault of teen investigated

Hillsboro police were continuing Tuesday to investigate a reported rape involving a 17-year-old girl.

According to police chief Jessie Hiebert, a suspect — also a juvenile — had not been arrested as of Tuesday evening.

A 17-year-old girl, reportedly a victim of sexual assault, was transported by Hillsboro ambulance shortly after 9 p.m. Monday from a farm residence near Lehigh.

The assault apparently had occurred elsewhere. However, the ambulance waited until a sheriff’s deputy and a Hillsboro police officer arrived before approaching the residence. The acting sheriff also came on duty in response to the call.

Officers involved in the case searched near Hillsboro High School and began searching for a suspect vehicle at residences in both Marion and Florence.

Multiple sheriff’s deputies and officers from both Hillsboro and Marion were involved in interrogation of residents.

The patient, whose physical injuries were not characterized as life-threatening, was loaded into an ambulance for transport to Hillsboro Community Hospital.

The ambulance, however, was diverted from HCH to Ascension Via Christi St. Joseph Hospital, Wichita.

Interviewing of relatives or others who might have knowledge related to the incident continued Tuesday evening.