Police suspect man exposed himself to children in Espoo

Police suspect a man aged just under 40 exposed himself to children in Espoo, Yle reported. The alleged incidents took place mainly in shopping centres and library spaces.

The man is suspected of approaching children and teenagers, exposing his genitals from his trousers and touching them in front of the children. Police do not yet know the identities of all the suspected victims.

Police arrested the man over the weekend. He was remanded in custody by the Western Uusimaa District Court early this week. Investigators currently know the identities of a few children and are trying to identify others who may have been targeted.

Police are seeking information about an incident on 23 September in the toy department of the Prisma store at Sello shopping centre. Three or four children, boys and girls believed to be of primary school age, and an adult were there at the time. Police are also looking for two fair-haired girls, believed to be of lower-secondary school age, who were at Iso Omena shopping centre on 25 September.

Investigators are also interested in the man’s movements at the XS-Lelu toy shop in Sello between 23 and 25 September.

Police describe the suspect as dark-skinned and bald, with a black beard. At the times of the reported incidents, he wore either a light blue shirt or a light-coloured, loose-fitting sweater, and a short, greenish lightweight padded jacket.

Police are asking guardians to speak with their children or teenagers if they were at the named locations at the relevant times. “You can ask children whether anything happened that they think adults should know about, or whether an adult behaved strangely around them,” said Maria Hietajärvi, the lead investigator.