A nine-year-old girl fell victim to a sexual predator who exposed himself at Westwood Lake on Wednesday night. (Spencer Sterritt/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

young victim

9-year-old girl traumatized after adult exposes himself at Westwood Lake

Sep 3, 2020 | 3:27 PM

NANAIMO — A nine-year-old girl was the victim of a sexual predator at Westwood Lake.

Nanaimo RCMP said the girl was walking along the trail with her family on Wednesday, Sept. 2 at approximately 6 p.m. She’d fallen roughly 100 yards behind her family when the suspect appeared from the bushes.

Cst. Gary O’Brien said a man exposed himself, saying a few words to the girl and then running away.

“What these individuals do is they find an opportunity when they see someone coming along the trail. They often are lying in wait and they’ve often planned out their escape route as well,” O’Brien said.

The young girl immediately ran back to her father and brought them to the scene of the crime.

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Police were called and searched the area for an hour.

“There’s a variety of trails and which ways you can go. Unless we can get there immediately and have a lot of officers on scene, it’s very difficult to find these people.”

Police made their presence known in the area Thursday morning and O’Brien said they’ll be enhancing enforcement for the next several days.

The suspect was wearing a blue surgical mask to obscure his features. He’s between 35 and 40 years of age and of an unknown ethnicity. He wore a green shirt at the time with a black hat.

A composite sketch will be released to the public once officers have spoken more with the young victim.

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