GOLDEN GATE, Fla. — The Collier County Sheriff’s office is still looking for a man they said touched himself inappropriately as a child was walking to a Golden Gate school yesterday.
That was not the only incident — a few weeks ago, CCSO reported another man exposed himself to a teenager who was walking to school.
Both incidents happened on Tropicana Boulevard. When looking at the street you can see that it’s not a back alley or back road; it’s out in the open, surrounded by houses, and about an 8-minute walk from Golden Gate Middle School.
“Two or three dozen kids walk down that road every day, every day,” said one neighbor.
She didn’t want to reveal her identity, but she lived in the area where deputies said two students reported two different men exposed themselves as they were walking to school.
“It’s very concerning. I don’t want my cousins to see that, because if I ever walk up on someone doing that to them something going to happen real bad… real bad,” she said.
She emphasized how concerned she is, especially having so many family members who walk to Golden Gate Middle daily.
“Right there on Tropicana down there, all those kids walk down that road,” the neighbor said.
Wednesday, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office released this sketch after a young victim said a man who looked like the photo approached her.
And about two weeks ago, the department said a teenager described a 5’8 Spanish man with black hair who approached her on a bicycle and asked if she wanted a bracelet, then dropped his pants.
“This is very concerning, and we work every case the same as the other case,” said Sergeant Stefan Loeffler, with CCSO Special Victim’s Unit.
Sgt. Loeffler said he can’t say much about the case because it’s still active, but he did say the department has increased patrols in the area.
“Recently it just started because at first there were none, now at the middle school down there I have seen three police down there,” the neighbor said.
