Video footage taken to forensic analyst to identify girl's stalker

THE man who fondled a nine-year-old girl in a retail store is still at large, but police are working round the clock to identify and arrest him.

Spokesman for the police in Linden, Johannesburg, Constable Ndivhuwo Mulamu, said yesterday the suspect had not yet been arrested and that investigations were still under way.

"We have taken the footage to the forensic analyst who will clear it so that the suspect can be identified," Mulamu said.

The child and her mother had gone shopping at Brightwater Commons in Randburg, but their experience was ruined by a man who fondled the girl in a Woolworths store.

When the pair arrived at the store, the little girl went to the children's section while her mother checked the woman's section.

Footage taken by CCTV cameras at the store shows the girl looking at accessories.

The man passes the girl and then goes back before coolly rubbing his crotch against her back.

The terrified girl runs away and the man walks around the store looking for her.

He finds the girl standing next to her mother.

Despite the mother being there he tries to grope her. He later also goes around looking for her and touches her every time he finds her.

A child psychologist said yesterday that it was difficult for parents to be constantly vigilant in busy places like shops, but children were vulnerable and needed to be watched closely.

Psychologist Eileen Rossouw was reacting to a Sowetan report yesterday in which it was reported that the nine-year-old girl was left traumatised after she was fondled.

Rossouw said it was unusual for groping to happen in front of a mom and by a total stranger.

"I have not seen any children who were fondled by an adult without there having been some sort of grooming beforehand," Rossouw said.

"Usually the abuser tries to win the child's confidence and friendship first by offering them gifts and then giving them 'special attention' so that they start to trust the abuser."

She urged parents to talk to their children about strangers and potential dangers in a way that did not make them feel constantly afraid.

"There really is no way to identify a potentially dangerous stranger except to check for clues about their behaviour - for example if they are constantly in your space, if it feels like they are following you," she said.