Police are hunting a man believed to be responsible for a spate of sexual crimes committed on Illawarra women in public over a two year period.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Wollongong police have renewed investigations into several acts of indecency and a sexual assault in the area in 2012 and 2014 after a recent phone call from one of the victims.
The 2012 incidents relate to indecent exposure towards a woman at Ellen Street, Wollongong and the indecent touching of three women at Northfields Avenue, Wollongong.
Police believe the assaults are linked because of the attacker's description and that he was riding a bike in four of the five attacks.
Wollongong crime manager, Detective Chief Inspector Brad Ainsworth fronted media on Tuesday to ask for anyone with information to come forward.
Insp Ainsworth said police fully investigated the incidents at the time but there were no strong leads and detectives were therefore relying on information from the public.
"The acts were unwarranted and were against women going about their business," he said.
"There has been [no similar incidents reported] since. There is not a sexual predator out there committing acts.
"Out of all of this, that is one good thing."
Insp Ainsworth said there may be other victims and encouraged them to come forward.
"There might be people who witnessed the attacks or were victims and decided not to report it," he said.
"Victims could have gone home, spoke to their family and thought 'it was just some bloke who rode past and flashed me on his bike'."
Insp Ainsworth appealed to the offender's family members or friends, who might know of the attacks, to contact police.
The call from the victim prompted police to re-investigate the attacks and appeal for public information.
He said as part of the investigation, police would re-interview victims, would comb through any evidence found at the time and would see if there any other similar incidents in locations outside Wollongong.
Insp Ainsworth said that women should not be worried that there was a "mad sexual predator out on the loose" and the attacks were not believed be related to a sexual assault and attempted kidnapping at North Wollongong in April.
The first attack occurred about 10pm on February 5, 2012 when a 22-year-old woman was walking along Ellen Street, Wollongong when she was approached from behind by an unknown man pushing a bicycle.
The man grabbed the woman at the waist from behind before exposing himself to her. The woman was able to break free of his grip and the man fled on his bicycle and she reported the attack to police.
Between 5.45pm and 6.30pm on March 1, 2012, three women were approached by a man in separate incidents around University of Wollongong at Northfields Avenue.
The man indecently exposed himself and sexually touched the women before fleeing on a bicycle.
The fifth attack occurred between 2.30am and 3am on January 1, 2014.
A 22-year-old woman was walking along Fairy Meadow Beach in Puckeys Estate when she was allegedly grabbed from behind and dragged into nearby bushland by an unknown man.
He sexually assaulted her before she was able to call out to a group of people nearby, causing the man to flee the scene.
Insp Ainsworth said there was no pushbike at the sexual assault but the offender's description matched the attacker in the previous indecent assaults two years earlier.
In each incident, the man was described as between 20 to 35 years old with tanned complexion, approximately 170cm tall, with a skinny build and brown scruffy hair.
The man was wearing a fluoro-coloured high visibility t-shirt at the time of the alleged offences in March 2012.