Man, 29, charged in Chinatown sex assault

CHINATOWN (WPVI) -- Philadelphia police have charged a man in connection with a violent sexual assault in the city's Chinatown section.

29-year-old Brandon Menley of the 900 block of Hamilton Street is charged with Attempted Murder, Rape, Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Robbery and related offenses.

Sources say Menley confessed to police.

Sources also tell Action News they caught up with Menley at the 'Our Brothers' Place' shelter, a temporary residence for homeless men.

One resident who did not want to be identified was there when police moved in on the suspect.

"When I was coming out the door, I seen the police sort of staking out the place, you know, staking the ground," the resident said. "He's sick, he has to be mentally sick to do something like that and that's somebody's daughter."

The attack happened at 8:00 a.m. Sunday on the 100 block of North 9th Street.

Police say the 45-year-old victim had just entered her art studio ahead of the morning's scheduled children art classes when an unknown male entered through the front door.

The suspect then forced the woman into a back office where he struck her several times on the head with a metal object, choked, and then sexually assaulted her.

The victim offered the suspect money to stop the attack. He took $600 and left through a back door.

The woman was transported to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital where she was treated for head lacerations.