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Man assaults girl in hotel elevator

ORLANDO - A man followed a 12-year-old British girl onto a hotel elevator in the city's tourist district and sexually assaulted her Monday night, officials said.

Investigators were trying to identify a suspect Tuesday.

Orange County sheriff's Sgt. Rich Mankewich said the man followed the girl, who was alone and looking for her mother, from the parking lot into the Enclave Suites at 11:30 p.m. The hotel is near Universal Studios Orlando, but is not owned or operated by the theme park.

A room key is required to enter the hotel, but Mankewich said the man slipped through the door behind the girl when she unlocked it.

Once on the elevator, the attacker said he wanted sex, investigators said, then groped the girl.

The girl told investigators she bit the man when he put his hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming. Mankewich said the assailant did not allow the girl off on her floor, but at some point she pushed the emergency button and ran out of the elevator when it stopped on another floor.

Detective Samara Melich said the girl and her family recently arrived in the United States. She took a self defense course just two weeks ago, which police credited with helping her end the attack.

"She was extremely shaken. She was just trying to calm down," Melich said.

Melich said the girl and her family intended to stay in Orlando for up to two weeks. She said the family decided not to cut short their vacation because they want to help law enforcement prosecute the man if he is caught.

The family declined comment through the Sheriff's Office.

Investigators distributed several images that security cameras captured of the man leaving the elevator. No camera was in the elevator.

[Last modified July 20, 2005, 00:56:12]