Narrabeen Lagoon: Multiple women targeted in Sydney’s northern beaches in string of alleged sexual offences
A sexual crimes taskforce has been established to combat a string of alleged sexual offences targeting women on a popular walking trail during the past week.
NSW Police have been forced to establish a specialist sexual crimes investigation unit following a string of sexual assault and harassment reports from women in Sydney’s northern beaches.
Strike Force Mexvo was announced on Wednesday morning in an effort to investigate a host of alleged sexual offences within the same area over the past week.
Five women have been allegedly sexually touched or harassed since last Wednesday by a perpetrator on an e-bike while using popular public walking tracks at Narabeen Lagoon.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Another woman has come forward to say she was assaulted in a similar manner earlier in the month.
The first reported incident occurred at 3.55pm last Wednesday when a woman was allegedly sexually touched by a man riding an e-bike while she was walking on the Narrabeen Lagoon trail.
She described the perpetrator, who sped off after committing the alleged assault, as having a slim build, wearing a fluorescent yellow shirt and dark pants.
Another incident occurred at about 3.15pm the following day when a runner on the nearby Narrabeen Lake trail was allegedly subjected to inappropriate sexual remarks.
The victim described the perpetrator as being of Caucasian appearance, aged between 17 and 25, and having short spiky hair and sideburns.
Two hours later on the same day, an e-bike rider allegedly approached another woman exercising at Bilarong Reserve and sexually touched her before fleeing on his e-bike.
She described the offender as having blond, curly hair and estimated his age to be around 15 or 16-years-old.
On Monday this week, two women were allegedly sexually touched in the same hour whilst walking beside Narrabeen Lagoon in the afternoon.
The offender was once again said to be riding an e-bike and described as Caucasian, aged between 16 and 18, approximately 175cm tall and wearing a bright yellow top with green on the sides, long black pants and a round black helmet.
One of the women spoke to local publication Manly Observer about the offence in which she was allegedly touched on the behind.
“I just went on a walk, and sat for a while at a bench. There was someone on an e-bike loitering around Bilarong park area,” the young woman told Manly Observer.
“I didn’t think much of it, then stood up to walk again and [was] listening to a podcast.
“It just gave me a huge fright,” she said.
A sixth woman came forward to police on Monday with information of an incident on October 1 where she was allegedly sexually touched by a man on an e-bike at Narabeen Lagoon.
Strike Force Mexvo will bring together specialist detectives and officers from the Sex Crimes Squad to investigate the possible link between recently reported offences.
Authorities will also be investigating whether the offences are being carried out by one or multiple perpetrators given the similarities in descriptions.
Anyone with information, mobile phone or dashcam footage, or who may have witnessed any of the incidents is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
