Police searching for man accused of sexually assaulting teen during Crafton Heights break-in

Pittsburgh police issued a warrant over the weekend for a man accused of breaking into a Crafton Heights home last month and assaulting a teenage girl as she slept on a couch.

Robert Huggins, 21, faces more than a dozen charges ranging from involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and corruption of minors to trespassing and burglary.

The 14-year-old girl told police she was sleeping on the couch in her home early March 18 when she awoke around 3:30 a.m. to find a man sexually assaulting her, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case.

The teen said she tried to get away, but the man – who police identified as Huggins – clamped his hand over her mouth and nose, leaving her unable to breathe, investigators wrote. She said the man ran out of a back door when she knocked over a Playstation remote that turned on the gaming console.

She said the man was wearing a ski mask and she felt short dreadlocks as she tried to push him away, according to the complaint. She said he was wearing a light-colored sweat suit.

Witnesses identified a man matching the description given by the teen as Huggins, and confirmed his identity when shown a photo of the man.

Police said several break-ins were reported in the Crafton Heights community the day of the assault, and surveillance footage from the area showed a man wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt near the teen’s home just after 3:30 a.m.

Police said the footage showed Huggins throughout the neighborhood, sometimes wearing a ski mask and other times without one. A fingerprint taken from one of the places where Huggins was seen in the footage matched his right ring finger, according to the complaint.

Court records showed Huggins was not in custody as of Tuesday morning.