Police announce crackdown on ‘sex pest’ nudist beach

ITS reputation as one of Australia’s prettiest nude beaches has taken a dark turn as more and more tourists warn each other to stay away.

POLICE are cracking down on an area of Byron Bay’s idyllic coastline after its reputation for skinny dipping, lewd behaviour and sex acts again made the news.

Local police will continue to patrol beaches, nearby bushland and walking tracks in the Tweed and Byron area after two men were caught having sex 400 metres away from the “clothing optional” part of Tyagarah Beach.

The two men, who were caught on the north Byron beach on Friday, have been charged with offensive behaviour.

Police spotted the couple, aged 27 and 57, having sex at around 4pm on Australia Day while conducting high visibility patrols of the coast.

It comes as locals reported a recent rise in sexual attacks and perverts lurking around Tyagarah Beach, which has a clothes optional section.

Locals have also complained to police about beachgoers illegally nude swimming.

Tyagarah Beach has become known as a place that attracts ‘sex pests’. Picture: Adam Head

The beach, located in the Tyagarah Nature Reserve, is well-signposted as to where exactly people can swim and sunbake without clothes. Police put out a warning today that they were taking a “zero tolerance” approach to people caught without their clothes on outside nudist beaches.

“We’ve had people being attacked in those areas, there’s been a number of sex assaults, so we believe this will reduce incidents of violence,” Tweed-Byron Chief Inspector Luke Arthurs told the local paper The Northern Star.

The beach already has a reputation for being “creepy”, with at least one Google reviewer slamming how people behave and giving Tyagarah a one-star rating.

“A beautiful place, but it can be quite creepy at times with naked men touching themselves. I suggest come in the morning,” he wrote.

In a report by The Northern Star last year, dozens of women came forward to report their discomfort and fear about going to Tyagarah beach and how they had been approached by naked men.

The report came after a woman was sexually assaulted there on June 5.

Colleen Graham, a local who lives in Tyagarah, told the ABC in September last year she doesn’t go to the beach or nature reserve anymore.

“I’ve had a range of encounters. The most common one is lying on my towel reading a book and a naked man moving his towel very close to me and masturbating,” she told the publication.

“I’ve also seen oral sex, group sex, I’ve had a man physically block my way, men standing really close to my face when I’m on a towel, totally naked and trying to interact with me.

“Pretty much every time I visit the beach, especially if it’s a busy period on the weekend, in the middle of the day, I can almost guarantee I’ll have some sort of experience down at the beach.”

Ms Graham said the Tyagarah Nature Reserve, which was best known for being a meeting place for sex or a “beat”, became a place of regular harassment.

“It’s gone a whole lot further than that now with people who are actually harassing people down there,” she said. “I can still see ‘beat’ happening, but now actual sex pests are going there and being predators.”