- A serial sex predator who has terrorised eight women in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs since August will strike again, police have warned.
Sexual Crimes Squad detectives yesterday launched an urgent appeal for public help to catch the man after an eighth assault was linked to him.
It is believed he is responsible for a spate of attacks in suburbs including Lower Templestowe, Doncaster, Box Hill, Balwyn North and Camberwell.
Detective Inspector Paul Binyon said police were becoming increasingly alarmed about the string of assaults that had left women in Melbourne’s leafy eastern suburbs on high alert.
He said police believed there was strong evidence to suggest the sexually motivated attacks could become more violent and serious.
Inspector Binyon said it was believed a Canterbury attack on a 27-year-old woman last Sunday was the man’s eighth assault since August 3rd.
The Camberwell woman was walking east along Riversdale Road after crossing Willow Grove just after 9 pm last Sunday when the man approached her.
Investigators have been told the victim was grabbed from behind and indecently assaulted.
The woman dropped to the ground in an attempt to stop the assault and the offender then ran off.
He was last seen heading west along Riversdale Road and right into Willow Grove, before continuing north.
Inspector Binyon said police had no doubt the same man was responsible for all the attacks.
He said the regular pattern of offending involved Caucasian women being attacked after alighting from public transport. The attacks almost always happened around dusk in quiet residential streets, he said.
The offender is described as of Asian descent, aged in his 20s, slim, and about 178 centimetres tall.
He was last seen wearing a hooded sweater with loose clothing – Shannon Deery
