North College Hill police are boosting patrols after several reports of high school students being violated while walking to school.
It happened to two teenage girls in the last two weeks. Both claimed a strange man approached them, touched them inappropriately and then eventually walked away.
The incidents happened in the same area of Galbraith Road near North College Hill High School.
So far, no one has been arrested, but police say they have a suspect in mind.
“We have an idea who’s doing it. We have a real good idea,” said Officer Jay Manning. “We think that it’s going to happen again, but we’re trying to do the preventative side of that.”
Manning said there were similar reports in the spring during last school year. No one was arrested, and investigators believe the same man is responsible.
Two weeks ago, police said a 17-year-old girl was walking to school with her two little brothers. She told police they were followed by a man who approached her and touched her buttocks and breasts.
On Wednesday, a different teenager who was walking in the same area on Galbraith Road reported that a man walked by her and slapped her buttocks.
The girl told police she shoved the man and he started to walk away. A driver who witnessed the incident pulled over and helped the girl get to school safely.
One mother we spoke to chose to remain anonymous and said not only does she fear for her own children, she knows one of the victims.
“There’s a lot of naive little girls around here. They don’t know what’s going on. They really don’t. It’s kind of sick,” she said. “I’m very concerned, and I’m scared, and I’m afraid because it’s happening to too many people.”
Police are working overtime to keep students safe. That includes added morning patrols, with some officers on foot, every school morning.
“Walk together. Stay in a group. See and say something, and don’t be afraid to call 911 and let us know,” Manning said.
Man targeting and violating girls walking to school in North College Hill was originally published on thebuzzcincy.com
