{"id":259490,"date":"2026-08-05T07:44:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T07:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/259490\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T07:44:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T07:44:12","slug":"18-year-old-recounts-home-invasion-sexual-assault-in-kensington-as-philadelphia-police-search-for-suspect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/259490\/","title":{"rendered":"18 year-old recounts home invasion, sexual assault in Kensington as Philadelphia police search for suspect"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — An 18-year-old woman and her mother say they are traumatized and fearful as police continue searching for the man investigators believe broke into their Kensington home<\/a> and sexually assaulted the teen.<\/p>\n

Detectives say they are also looking into whether the suspect may be connected to additional break-ins and possibly other assaults across Northeast Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

Police say the attack happened around 5 a.m. on June 4, when 26-year-old Lee Johnson allegedly entered the family’s home on the 2200 block of East Somerset Street.<\/p>\n

\"Lee<\/p>\n

The victim and her mother are not being identified, and we distorted their voices.<\/p>\n

The teen said she was asleep when she first felt her blankets move.<\/p>\n

“First I felt the covers coming off of me, I’m just thinking it’s me moving in my sleep,” she said.<\/p>\n

She said she then realized someone was touching her.<\/p>\n

“I felt somebody touching me inappropriately down there,” she said. “I couldn’t even open my eyes all the way. I just see him at the bottom of the bed.”<\/p>\n

The victim says once Johnson realized she was awake, he leapt on top of her and covered her mouth – but not before she got a scream out that her mom heard from the other room, while her daughter was attempting to fight off the man on top of her.<\/p>\n

“When I heard her say, ‘somebody in here,’ I immediately jumped up,” her mother said. “When I jumped up I seen him running up the steps and running out my back door.”<\/p>\n

“Once he realized I was fighting back, he just jumped right off me,” the victim recalled.<\/p>\n

Police have since obtained a warrant for Johnson and released his identity. Investigators are reviewing whether he may be linked to a series of break-ins reported across Northeast Philadelphia since the spring and possibly other sexual assaults.<\/p>\n

“Certainly he’s intensified his danger elements so we want to get him off the street so if somebody knows him, may know where he’s at, we’re urging them to give us a call,” Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said.<\/p>\n

Philadelphia police are looking for the man accused in a home invasion and sex assault.<\/p>\n

“This whole experience has been traumatic. Nobody can sleep at night. We sleep together. We don’t want to be home,” the victim’s mother said.<\/p>\n

The family believes Johnson may know someone who lives in their apartment complex, and that’s how he found a way inside their residence. They told police he stole several items, including phones and a purse. He’s wanted for Aggravated Indecent Assault, Burglary, Unlawful Restraint, and related charges.<\/p>\n

Court records show Johnson was paroled in June of last year on drug charges.<\/p>\n

Police urge anyone with information Philadelphia Police Department’s Special Victims Unit at 215-685-3251. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling or texting 215-686-TIPS (8477).<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — An 18-year-old woman and her mother say they are traumatized and fearful as police continue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[110120,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-259490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-110120","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}