Man exposes himself to teenage girl in Witham
Essex Police is urging people to be cautious
A man has exposed himself to a teenage girl in a park in Witham.
It happened at around 5.15pm on Monday (22 March), and is one of a number of incidents of indecent exposure in the area which police are linking.
What happened?
The victim in the latest incident was sitting on a bench at the top of a hill with a friend at Whetmead Nature Reserve when she noticed a man had repeatedly walked back and forth in front of her and up and down the hill beside her.
He waited until other people in the park had left the area and then exposed himself to the teenager and her friend.
They ran from the area and, as they did so, the man hid from them in a bush.
Essex Police has said he has been described as white, about 5ft 10ins tall, with fluffy dark brown hair in a ‘curtains’-type style.
He was wearing a black t-shirt with no visible logos and blue skinny jeans.
Officers are now appealing for information from anyone who was in the area at the time who may have seen a man matching the description.
It is believed there were a number of dog walkers in the area immediately before the incident took place.
Officers are carrying out high visibility patrols in the area
DS Mick Carrington of Braintree CID, said:
"We of course understand these incidents will be concerning for our community and we are treating them very seriously.
"We have high visibility patrols taking place in the area but we would urge members of the public to be vigilant and we would ask parents not to allow their children to go to the area alone."
Two of the incidents being linked by police took place on Wednesday, 10 March, and Friday, 12 March.
At around 4pm on 10 March, three girls reported walking in a green area just off Laurence Avenue between Maldon Road and Pattison Close when a man exposed himself.
The man in that incident is described as white, slim, approximately 20 years old with medium-length dark brown hair and wearing a blue jacket, grey trousers, and brown shoes.
Two days later, a woman in her 30s was walking her dog in the Maldon Road area at around 10am when she reported a man exposing himself.
Anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting crime reference number 42/44328/21 or cite incident 1046 of 22 March.