Police are investigating an allegation that a 17-year-old girl was sexually assaulted in County Down.The teenager was the victim of a serious sexual assault on Friday at about 2330 GMT in the Greencastle Street area of Kilkeel.
The headline and the second paragraph are confident that the girl was the victim of a sexual assault, whereas the first par uses the don't-sue-us word 'allegation'. If the reporter is so sure of himself, why not write 'Police are investigating the sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl'?
In fact, I would go so far as to suggest that using the word 'allegation' here, if there is indeed no doubt that the assault took place, is offensive to the victim.
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