Some Bligh Park parents spoke to the Gazette on Monday saying “they had never been so scared to let their children out at night” after social media posts went into overdrive.

Hawkesbury local area command crime manager Inspector Paul McHugh spoke to the Gazette on Tuesday, offering the most up-to-date information on the incident.

He said at about 7.15pm on January 28, a 16-year-old girl was in a Bligh Park reserve with friends. He said the girl then walked 100 metres to the toilet block at the reserve and was allegedly “grabbed, bashed and sexually assaulted”.

He said the police were called and spoke to the girl who “identified a person known to her as the offender”.

Police spoke to the man, a 22-year-old from South Windsor, who gave police an alibi which was confirmed by family members, and he was therefore released pending further investigation by Windsor detectives.

Police said the girl was taken to Westmead Hospital for bruising and assessment and has since been released and returned home to her out-of-area address.

When the news of the alleged attack spread on Facebook the gossip became a whirlpool of escalations. Allegations labelled “shocking” and “inappropriate” by some were posted, and later removed, all over Facebook, including on the Hawkesbury Gazette page and Hawkesbury police’s page, causing panic among some parents.

Inspector McHugh said he would like to quash all the rumours, some of which suggest there was “a rapist on the loose”, and said “there is no threat to the public”.

He would also like to remind the community that they must be “mindful of what is placed on Facebook”.

“Making comments that are not factual do not help anybody,” he said. “Things like this need to be left in the hands of the police and people are not assisting us by spreading rumours”.

Hawkesbury police have also posted on their Facebook page that “issues like these are very emotional and often attract a range of rumours about what happened”.

“Police have to be meticulous in our investigations and we will not put information out that we cannot confirm or rely upon”, the site said. “We will work as quickly as we can to investigate the issue. Please try and not spread rumours and innuendo as this does not assist anybody, including the persons involved.

“When we have facts about the issue we will keep you updated.”

Hawkesbury police are still investigating this incident and anyone with information is urged to contact Windsor detectives on 4587 4099 or CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 000.