Sketch Released Of Man Accused Of Groping Girl

SEMINOLE, FL — The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office is looking for help identifying a man its deputies say inappropriately touched a teenage girl while she was on the way home from school on Friday.

According to the agency, the 15-year-old girl was walking home from Seminole High School around 5 p.m. Dec. 2. As the girl was walking on Oakhurst Road near 86th Avenue North, she saw a man walking north on the west side of the road.

“Detectives say that the suspect hid behind a bush and waited for a school crossing guard to leave the area before he started walking towards the victim,” an email from the sheriff’s office said. “The victim became nervous and proceeded northbound on Oakhurst Road, walking away from the suspect. The suspect followed the victim, came up behind her, and slapped her on the buttocks with his hand.”

The girl ran away, the agency said, but the man kept following her, “jogging behind her for about a half mile.” The man, however, couldn’t keep up. Deputies say the girl was able to get away from him in the 9100 block of Oakhurst Road.

While the girl was not injured, deputies would like to speak with the man accused in the incident. He is described as a white male between the age of 40 and 50. He has a thin build, graying hair and a beard. He was last seen wearing a yellow T-shirt, white shorts and white sneakers.

The girl was able to work with detectives to provide a composite sketch of the suspect, the agency noted.

Anyone with information about the man’s identity is asked to call Cpl. Paniccia with the Crimes Against Children Unit at 727-582-6200. Anonymous tips may also be submitted through Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-873-TIPS or by going online to www.crimestoppersofpinellas.org.

No further information is available at this time.

Sketch courtesy of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office