Knox woman flashed by man in Hi Vis in Glenfern Valley Bushlands off Glenfern Road
A traumatised woman has told of how she fled, hailing down a nearby police car after a man crept out of the bushes and exposed himself as she walked alone in a popular Knox park. She wants others to know what happened.
Outer East
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A Knox woman was left traumatised after a man wearing orange Hi Vis exposed himself in an Upper Ferntree Gully park.
The 27-year-old was so horrified she now wants to warn others to be careful while out alone – particularly during coronavirus restrictions.
The woman, who did not want to be named, was taking her daily walk, as a working from home break, through Glenfern Valley Bushlands, off Glenfern Rd, when the traumatic incident happened about 3.30pm on August 19.
She walked down to the park from her home and had only gone 300m along the path when a man in an orange Hi Vis polo shirt stepped out from the trees and said “I need to speak with you”.
“He had his penis through the zip of his pants and he was holding it,” she said.
“I was so shocked I said ‘dude what the f***k?’
“I turned around and just ran. I didn’t have a car so I just kept running.”
She said there was another man sitting in a car nearby but she was too scared to ask for help in case he was in cahoots with the flasher.
“I dialled 000 as I ran out and I looked back and he (the flasher) faded back into the trees,” the woman said.
“Police were driving past and I walked out onto the road and I was crying.”
The woman said police stopped and immediately searched the park.
“All the cars driving past at the time had men in Hi Vis – I don’t feel safe,” she said.
“I don’t want to leave home now.
“I walk to be better at my job, to get out for the fresh air and exercise.
“Now I don’t want to leave the house during lockdown.”
The woman said she was approached three years ago on the way to the same park when a man tried to make her get into his car.
And these were not isolated moments – she said she had been flashed by men while she was in primary school, high school and again at university.
“It took me years to get over the fear and to go for a walk alone,” she said.
“You (people) don’t think it will happen but it does.”
She described the man as in his mid to late 30s, average build, with really white blond hair, a blond unshaven beard, and pale skin that looked pink as if he had been in the sun.
“He looked like your average Ferntree Gully tradie,” she said.
The woman’s mother said she felt like crying.
“As a mother I am very worried,” she said.
“I’m very angry and upset and I worry for all you girls.”
Knox police Acting Sergeant Tessa Hall said police who were close by at the time searched the area but did not find the man.
Acting Sgt Hall said police were ramping up patrols in and around the park and a sketch artist was drawing up a facefit of the man as part of their ongoing investigation.
She said anyone with information should contact the station 9881 7000 or Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000.
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