Man exposed genitals to children in Espoo shopping centres – arrested
West Uusimaa police suspect a man in his late thirties of sexual harassment of children in Espoo shopping centres and libraries. The man has been remanded in custody by a district court decision.
Espoo man remanded in custody on suspicion of sexual harassment of children
West Uusimaa police suspect a man in his late thirties of exposing his genitals to children in several Espoo shopping centres and library facilities, according to yle.fi. The man was arrested over the weekend and remanded in custody by West Uusimaa District Court during the early part of the week.
The identities of the children who were victims of the alleged acts are not yet fully known to police. Police are now seeking to establish the identities of all victims.
The man is suspected of approaching children and young people closely and exposing his genitals from his trousers while touching himself in front of children.
Police are particularly interested in an incident at the toy department of the Prism store in Sello shopping centre on 23 September, where there were an estimated three to four primary school-aged children and one adult present. Police are also seeking two fair-haired girls, estimated to be secondary school age, who were at the Iso Omena shopping centre on 25 September. Police are also interested in alleged activities by the suspect at the XS-Lelu shop in Sello shopping centre between 23–25 September.
The man suspected of the crime is dark-skinned and bald, with a black beard. At the time of the incidents, the man was wearing a light blue shirt or a light loose-fitting jumper, and a short greenish lightweight puffa jacket.
Police urge guardians to speak with their children if they were at the locations mentioned during the times in question. The investigating crime commissioner Maria Hietajärvi stated: "You can talk to children about whether anything happened in these situations that would be worth mentioning to adults, or whether any adult behaved strangely near them."
Source: Google News FI — Crime (fi)