Rotorua police fear a sexual predator has struck again after a German tourist was indecently assaulted in Kuirau Park near the central city.
The tourist was alone on a viewing platform in the park looking at a geothermal pond at about 3pm on Tuesday when she was approached by a man who exposed himself.
The 27-year-old moved away but the man followed and indecently assaulted her.
Police say the attack, which left the tourist with a blackened eye, is similar to other sexual attacks on women at the Rotorua Lakefront.
The tourist arrived in Rotorua on Tuesday and after checking in to a central city hotel went to Tourism Rotorua's Visitor Information Centre where she inquired about walking tracks.
A staff member suggested several places, but warned her to be extra careful if she planned to walk through Kuirau Park.
At 3pm, the park was busy with families but as she walked through the park she found herself on more isolated paths.
"I saw the young man on the path and he said something to me. I started to be a little bit afraid because of what the woman at the visitor centre said to me."
The woman walked away and up a ramp to a viewing platform overlooking a pond. The man approached her with his trousers down and exposed himself. She moved away again but he grabbed her and indecently assaulted her.
The man punched her three times in the face before she screamed and managed to escape.
"I don't know why he picked me. I have always been careful travelling but now I will avoid walking by myself," the woman said.
While she is upset about the incident, she is determined not to let it spoil her trip.
"This will not taint my picture of New Zealand because this can happen anywhere in Europe and Germany as well."
Over the past two months, three women have told police they were attacked in broad daylight in bushes at the lakefront by a scruffy man.
Detective Lehi Hohaia said it was possible the man involved in Tuesday's attack was the same man responsible for the attacks on other women at the lakefront.
"We're lifting the intensity of our investigations due to the similar nature of the attacks. In all four occasions the man has pounced on unsuspecting women in broad daylight."
The offender in all the incidents is described as aged between 25 and 30, about 1.7m tall, of medium or athletic build, with short hair and a round face.
Meanwhile tourism officials, the police and the Rotorua District Council say they are working together to keep locals and visitors to Kuirau Park safe.
Council staff have cleared away excess scrub surrounding a number of areas in the park to "open up" the area.
The council also hopes to reduce crime by encouraging more use of the park by the public, according to the council's parks and recreation manager, Garry Page.
"By improving the facilities at Kuirau Park, more people will use the area and hopefully that presence will have a positive effect."
The northern end of Kuirau Park, the area where the tourist was attacked, will be redeveloped next year, Mr Page said.
- DAILY POST (ROTORUA)
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