Victorian Crime Stoppers, Victoria Police and Public Transport Victoria joined forces to launch the ‘Hands Off’ campaign on Monday in a bid to stamp out the alarming number of sexual offences on trains, trams and buses.
A crackdown on public transport sex pests is underway as police hunt down men accused of assaulting women in Melbourne.
Police will release a gallery of rogue suspects over two weeks to help identify the suspects as they rally for victims to come forward.
Police believe this man allegedly sexually assaulted a woman on board a CBD bound tram on August 31
During a journey in Docklands police say this man has pressed his groin against the woman and put his arm around her onto the front of her right thigh
The wanted men are accused of a number of sexually explicit crimes including inappropriately grabbing women at stations and performing lewd sex acts on carriages.
Insp Karl Curran said the specialised team will investigate every sex crime reported that occurred on public transport system, the Herald Sun reported.
‘We know these offences are occurring. We just know that people aren’t reporting them and we’re trying to be as proactive as we possibly can so we can identify trends and patterns and address them.’
Suspects will be sought for more than two dozen offences with images of alleged offenders as police hope to identify and charge them.
‘If your image is released, we urge you to make yourself known to police and we will assist you to access rehabilitative services should you wish,’ Inspector Karl Curran said on Monday.
‘It’s only a matter of time before the community tells us where you are and we come to you.’
It is believed that this man sexually assaulted two women whilst at Melbourne Central Railway Station on June 27
One man who police are searching for is accused of exposing himself in front of a female passenger and performing a lewd act, before exiting the train at Windsor Station in June.
Public Transport Victoria chief executive Jeroen Weimar said the vast majority of Victoria’s 590 million journeys each year were safe, but sexual offending will not be tolerated.
‘We have CCTV cameras operating across the network to keep our passengers safe,’ he said.
There are about 9000 CCTV cameras at metropolitan rail stations, and cameras on every station platform and train carriage, with Metro monitoring station CCTV 24-hours a day.
Police would like to speak to this man who is accused of exposing himself before performing a lewd act on a train service in Sandringham
Police are searching for a man who allegedly sexually assaulted two women on board a city bound train from North Melbourne station
Crime Stoppers Victoria general manager Cathy Rhodes reminded people that anonymous calls to report crimes weren’t traced and there is no caller ID or IP tracing.
‘Everyone should feel safe and secure on public transport and Crime Stoppers is absolutely committed to working with Victoria Police to ensure this is the case for all Victorians,’ she said.
‘We urge the community to visit our Facebook page and/or our website to review the images we’re releasing today, share our posters on your social media accounts and report anything you know to us confidentially. ‘
PUBLIC TRANSPORT ATTACKS
North Melbourne – Wednesday, 23 March 2016
Police are searching for a man who allegedly sexually assaulted two women on board a city bound train from North Melbourne station on Wednesday, 23 March 2016
At around 8:15am, the man boarded the train and allegedly, during his journey, pressed himself up against two women
The man then exited the train at Parliament Railway Station
Melbourne CBD – Thursday, 31 August 2017
A man is understood to have sexually assaulted a woman on board a CBD bound tram on Thursday, 31 August 2017
The man was travelling on the route 1 tram along Swanston Street at approximately 10:45am before approaching a woman and touching her on her behind as she took a seat
Melbourne Central – Tuesday, 27 June 2017
Police allege a man sexually assaulted two women whilst at Melbourne Central Railway Station on Tuesday, 27 June 2017
The victim was walking outside the Elizabeth Street entry to Melbourne Central RWS at around 7.50am when the man allegedly grabbed her inappropriately
It is believed that he sexually assaulted another woman whilst inside the RWS, before leaving the area
Melbourne CBD – Thursday, 31 August 2017
Police are searching for a man who allegedly sexually assaulted a woman on board a CBD bound tram on Thursday, 31 August 2017
The man was travelling on the route 1 tram along Swanston Street at approximately 10:45am before approaching a woman and touching her on her behind as she took a seat
Melbourne Central – Tuesday, 27 June 2017
A man is believed to have sexually assaulted two women whilst at Melbourne Central Railway Station on Tuesday, 27 June 2017
The victim was walking outside the Elizabeth Street entry to Melbourne Central RWS at around 7.50am when the man allegedly grabbed her inappropriately
It is believed that he sexually assaulted another woman whilst inside the RWS, before leaving the area
Sandringham Line – Thursday, 1 June 2017
Police are searching for a man who allegedly exposed himself and performed a lewd act upon himself whilst aboard a Sandringham Line outbound train service on Thursday, 1 June 2017
The man boarded the train at Flinders Street Station at around 6am
Whilst on board, he has exposed himself in front of a female passenger and performed a lewd act, before exiting the train at Windsor Station
Docklands – Wednesday, 18 January 2017
A man is wanted for questioning who inappropriately grabbed a woman whilst travelling on a tram in Docklands on Wednesday, 18 January 2017
The woman boarded the tram just before 8.13am outside Flinders Street Station and travelled towards Southern Cross Station
During the journey the man has pressed his groin against the woman and put his arm around her onto the front of her right thigh
