Police have cordoned off an area of Fort Victoria Country Park near Yarmouth after a 3-year-old girl was subjected to a serious sexual offence in woodland.
The park’s public toilets and an area of nearby woodland have been sealed off as investigations into the incident continue more than 24 hours after the shocking events of Bank Holiday Monday.
Officers initially responded to the area, alongside the National Police Air Service helicopter from Bournemouth, shortly after 15:00 yesterday afternoon. The search then moved towards the Wightlink ferry terminal at Yarmouth and later to Lymington on the mainland.
A 60-year-old man from the Isle of Wight – thought to be nearby Freshwater – has since been arrested in connection with the incident. He remains in custody for questioning at this time.
Scenes of crime investigators have been collecting evidence from the country park throughout the day with portaloos brought in to replace the public toilets whilst they are closed for examination. It’s thought the youngster was taken from one area to another, resulting in a large crime scene.
Mainland Police officers have been drafted in from the New Forest to support local teams with securing the area, which is expected to remain locked down for the rest of the day and into tonight.
Detective Chief Inspector Liam Davies has said:
“This was a very serious incident and there will be an increased police presence in the area whilst we examine a number of lines of enquiry.
“The child, a 3-year-old girl, and their family are receiving specialist support while we seek to establish the full circumstances of what happened.
“We know there were two dog walkers in the vicinity at this time – a man and a woman – who we believe may have witnessed something significant and discussed this with the child’s mother. It is vital that we identify them. If this is you, please contact us immediately.
“In addition, we would like to hear from anyone who used Fort Victoria Country Park either that day or previously and who may have seen someone acting suspiciously, or anything out of the ordinary which could assist our investigation.
“You may not believe that you have anything significant to tell us, but even the smallest piece of information could be vital, so please get in touch.”
Superintendent Sarah Jackson said:
“Incidents of this nature are extremely rare, and we work very hard on the Isle of Wight to tackle sexual offences in partnership with organisations that support victims.
“All allegations of this nature are taken very seriously, and dedicated officers will be working tirelessly to investigate this incident.
“Officers remain at the scene in Fort Victoria Country Park, and there are additional officers in the area conducting patrols, so if you have any information or concerns please do not hesitate to approach them.”
Enquiries to establish the full circumstances of this incident are underway. People are asked not to speculate.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101, quoting Operation July. Alternatively, you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
That poor little girl..so glad the police have got him
I hope so, however, we don’t know if the arrested man is the guilty person yet..
MM, not the police who ‘let them off’ though. The public, NOT a judge should decide it’s fate, as judges are too used to such, and are pressured by HMG not to jail them as they have filled the land and the jails with the worlds similar.
String the dirty bastard up
I agree ….
literally!!!.
Filthy, dirty, pervert, that poor little girl, I hope this will be something she has no knowledge of as she grows older. He should be castrated and put into stocks in the centre of Newport.
Sadly that is rarely the case, he will have stolen her sexuality as surely as murder would have stolen her life. Unlikely that she will ever be free of the memory or its effects.
Couldn’t agree more. I’m utterly speechless that this can happen anywhere, let alone our beautiful island. My thoughts are with the young girl and her parents. I think it is they that should choose the punishment.
Any body want to borrow my bolt croppers?
A bread knife will do.
A blunt one for preference
Yes let the public deal with him
It’s not often i am lost for words but i am now.
Bring back hanging or at the very least, castration.
Take the guy out the sea and throw him off the boat end of
Disgusting sick and so horrific I’m speechless
Anybody that commits this type of offence have do excuse or defence whatsoever. I’ve said before that castration should be the minimum sentence.Sickens me how a person could do this to a 3 year old. I’m not joking when I say that if it had been my child or grandchild I would gladly go to jail after dealing with this bastard. Put him behind bars and throw the key away.
Gimme 5 minutes,that`s all i want….just 5 minutes with this piece of work.
If only if only
This is shocking to read, I hope the family are doing ok, thank god the a**hole was found by police.
Stop continuously allowing these perverts with numerous amounts of indecent children photos including severe class A walk free from court with suspended sentences.
I agree. It was only last month we had purvey pensioner John stoddart from ventnor let off. All these people should be named and there address be known so people can be aware what’s good with a bloody fine?..we should put them on one of the towers out at sea. The government has to bring in tougher sentences. Hanging………………. or maybe that’s too good for them.
Truly sick & so horrific for such an innocent little person & their family… let’s hope as soon as he’s out proper justice is served….
Yes by the public that is the only way justice will be done.
Glad they got the bastard!
Wat a dirty bastard… he needs putting dwn. It’s getting worse over here
Poor lil girl I’m absolutely speechless
Poor little girl , and her poor parents. He needs castrating and locking up till he dies. So he can never do anything like it again..
Where were the parents?
This isn’t helping. Perverts are everywhere. You could be living next to one and not know. So if you haven’t got anything nice to say I suggest you shut up before you parent shame.
If anyone did anything like this to ANY of my loved ones, they will pay the price, and I will grin each day I spent in jail.
Imagine when Pen Feath is filled with such delights as main land councils happily dump such types here, paying our council to take such rubbish.
People here should be able to sue the council should any such crime happen from those they have been ‘paid’ to take here without checking their background fully.
God help all our children with such weak sentences which will get weaker as our jails are filled with the worlds low life as well as our own nowadays.
I getting sick of this bloody island these days, what the hell is going on, that poor little sole is just a baby.
We have a lot of grubby filthy scum here now, what the f…ck is happening and why??
The island was ounce a safe place to bringing up children but this safe place is no more, god help us when they turn the island into a concrete hell hole.
I don’t think the island has never been a safe place in that respect..if anything a target area..a busy holiday place surrounded by beaches…
I think 2 of the high category prisons used to be used a lot for sexual predators.then they were released.
Still are
Put him in a room full of mum’s and dads won’t last long
You don’t need to be a mum or dad to be horrified, desperately upset and angry about this. Everyone has children in their lives, and everyone has been a child.
I was in Yarmouth on Monday and saw police , ambulance, and helicopter there , running around like mad , hope the child and family have a lot of support loves and hugs to you all xxxx
cut off his knackers
Name and shame the scum
evil bastard
It’s official I’m leaving the isle if white ,you’d of thought we where a safe community ,then something this tragic and haunting happens to this little girl he has ruined her life before the age of 4 and I know she will probably never recover . We should send up our prayers to her and her parents
And cases like this is why we need a firing squad!! Poor little girl wish her all the love in the world
Some questions need to asked here. Was he already on the Offenders list? Was he sent here from the mainland because the council over there are fed up with him offending over there. Why wasn’t he tagged. Why wasn’t he banned from being in an area where there are children? Police only have a certain number of hours to charge him of this offense, and so far they have not that I have seen,otherwise they have to let him go, bloody stupid as it may seem if he denies the offense.
So he gets bail and I am sure I am not the only one but I wanna know who he is because I wanna protect my child