A photo of the vehicle of interest police say was linked to an indecent act against an Auckland schoolgirl. Photo / NZ Police
A photo of the vehicle of interest police say was linked to an indecent act against an Auckland schoolgirl. Photo / NZ Police
Police have arrested a wanted man who allegedly pulled up alongside a young girl and performed a sex act as she walked home from school in Epsom this week.
The 32-year-old man is due to appear in the Auckland District Court on February 19, charged with two counts of indecentact.
Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Greaves thanked the public for providing information which led to the man’s arrest yesterday.
“After receiving information from members of the public who recognised the wanted vehicle from our media release, police made the arrest yesterday, Friday, February 14, and charged the man.
“Police would like anyone who saw this vehicle, or has further information concerning it to contact us.”
School girl left ‘shaken’ after being followed
The 14-year-old girl’s father said on Thursday she had been left “really shaken”.
The man, who asked not to be named, also made an appeal on a community social media page after searching for the alleged offender himself when his daughter came home distressed.
He said she got off the school bus at the Royal Oak end of Manukau Rd and was beginning her short walk home.
“She was followed by a man with shoulder-length hair driving an old, rusty, beige van.
“As he pulled up next to her she saw that he was naked and touching himself.”
A photo of the vehicle driven by a man doing an indecent act against an Auckland schoolgirl. Photo / NZ Police
Greaves said the people mover was last seen travelling down Lewin Rd.
On Friday, Detective Senior Sergeant Martin Friend described the driver as a Caucasian male, aged between 40 and 50. He was slim build, with blond hair down to his neckline
The father didn’t think there were any “overt safety concerns” in the immediate area, but the incident was particularly concerning as there were several schools in the area.
“But by and large, I wouldn’t let a 14-year-old girl walk down, say, Queen Street by herself in the afternoon.”
He felt there was “not much” they could do other than contact police about the “opportunistic, predatory behaviour”.
“Right now we probably don’t want to let the kids walk around by themselves [anymore], but you know that is, at the moment, I think understandable knee-jerk reaction.
“We’ve never felt unsafe like this.”
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
