'Flasher' Pursues Girls In Bearna Village
Gardaí are searching for a ‘flasher’, who exposed himself to 12 years old girls in Bearna today.
The children first encountered the flasher at this beach, Mags Boreen, where he was described as ‘acting suspiciously’. He subsequently followed them home, where he is alleged to have flashed them.
Gardaí in Salthill have been furnished with a photograph of the alleged offender, taken by another child in the Thornberry area a short time later.
The alarm was raised this afternoon (July 24) by parents of the girls who were allegedly pursued by the man from the beach at Mags Boreen to the Truskey East area of the village. Word spread quickly through the community. One distraught parent contacted Bearna Beo:
She wrote:
“Today at about 2.45pm, a man exposed himself to a group of 12 year old girls on the Truskey East road, after following them up from the beach at Mags Boreen, where he had been acting suspiciously.
They described him as in his thirties, cycling a metallic blue bike with racing handles. He had dark curly hair (cut short at the sides, long on top), wearing a grey t-shirt, jeans, and sunglasses.
The Gardai have taken details of the incident and will be following up.
Without causing unnecessary concern, we are suggesting children in the area try to stay in groups.”
Subsequently, another child snapped a picture of a person matching the description on her smart phone at Thornberry, and this was subsequently forwarded on to Gardaí. It is believed that he did the same thing to a group of boys until they took out their phones to take his picture. He then fled the scene.
The message sent from a concerned parent to Bearna Beo.
There has been an ongoing issue with men exposing themselves to walkers using the public walkway between Mags Boreen and Silver Strand, but this latest incident - where children were pursued - is obviously of concern.
Word spread quickly through the village in the hours after the incident. This message was sent via Whats App.
If you have any further information, or to report incidents, contact: Salthill Garda Station: (091) 514 720