The OPP is investigating after a young girl was approached by a naked man here over the long weekend.
Police are also looking into the possibility the incident may be related to two others in the area involving children being approached by a “suspicious” man.
On April 15 Wellington County OPP received a report of an “indecent act” occurring on Concession Road 8 Wellington North, just east of Mount Forest.
Police say that at about 9:30am two men in a dark blue pick-up truck approached an 8-year-old girl while she was on her bike.
“They asked to her to come to the truck and when she began riding away, the passenger got out of the truck and he was naked,” police stated in a press release.
“The male asked her again to come to the truck but she rode away safely to a neighbour's home.”
Police described the nude man as white with white hair and beard.
The incident marks the third time in just over three weeks that a child in the Mount Forest area was approached by a man.
“There’s nothing specific that says they are (related), but there are similarities that are being investigated,” Constable Joshua Cunningham told the Advertiser on April 17.
All three incidents involve a truck and took place at about the same time of day in and around Mount Forest.
On April 3, a girl was approached by a man at about 8:30am on Sligo Road East in Mount Forest. The man is described as “sturdily built” with brown hair, a beard and mustache, wearing a white/grey ball cap, grey hoodie and driving a green truck.
Four days earlier, on March 30, a teen was approached by a man in a dark-coloured pick-up truck at the intersection of Sideroads 49 and 14 in Southgate Township. The driver is described as male, 20 to 30 years old, with scruffy dark hair and a dark moustache, wearing dark-coloured clothes and a baseball hat.
Cunningham said police are very concerned about all three incidents, regardless of a possible connection.
“It’s definitely an unusual situation that … has the potential for harm,” he said.
“The more we can do to make people aware about it and possibly identify those responsible, the better.”
Anyone with information about any of these incidents can contact the Wellington County OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or www.csgw.tips.
