Woman shaken by public toilet horror
A WOMAN has recounted the terrifying moment a naked, masturbating man attempted to crawl into her stall in a ritzy cafe-restaurant strip’s public toilet block.
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said she had been left frightened and needing counselling after the attack on Main Beach’s Tedder Ave, which took place in the middle of the afternoon on June 2.
Queensland Police confirmed they received a report of the incident the same evening.
The victim said she had gone for lunch with her husband and friends when she stepped away to use the toilets in the Tedder Ave carpark.
“There were three toilets, I was in the centre toilet and I heard (him) come in to the right of me,” she said.
“I heard a lot of shuffling noises, and what I actually thought I heard was (the sound of) the cap of a tube opening, but it didn’t sound like any toilet noises.
“The shuffling kept going and I leaned forward and all I could see was a pair of naked, hairy man’s legs facing my way.
“I looked again and I thought, ‘they’re moving towards me’. I grabbed my phone and texted my husband that there was a man there, but he was saying goodbye and helping (our friends).
“As I did that the man kept coming under and into my stall. He was masturbating, and he just kept coming more and more in.
“I just sat there absolutely frozen, I just couldn’t move.”
She said another woman entered the other stall as the man continued approaching, leaving both caught inside with the attacker.
“I just started bashing on the wall, yelling, ‘Get out, get out you dirty bastard’,” she said.
“He just said, ‘I’ll be here if I want, I can do what I want’. But he didn’t hurry, he just slowly moved back.
“The lady and I heard the (stall) door open and she looked under it, she could see his shoes and socks (on the floor).
“It was like he was waiting for one of us to come out but we just sat there, then we heard the door shut. We both came out, like ‘oh my God, did that really happen?’
“My husband came up and said, ‘oh God, what’s happened?’, then he’s taken off but he couldn’t see anyone on foot that had left. He ran to an exitway and took a number plate.”
The incident has left her “traumatised”. It prompted her to cancel her 50th birthday party at a Tedder Ave restaurant right next to the carpark, due to the emotional trauma.
“Quite a few people have come forward (since I spoke out) saying this has happened before in those bathrooms, which makes you wonder what they’re actually doing,” she said.
“I’m now having counselling because I keep reliving it. I had to see my doctor because I wasn’t sleeping. I’m afraid, he’s out there somewhere.”
Queensland Police are investigating using CCTV, and have confirmed they are “following a line of inquiry” to identify the man.
I JUST STARTED BASHING ON THE WALL, YELLING, ‘GET OUT, GET OUT YOU DIRTY BASTARD. HE JUST SAID, ‘I’LL BE HERE IF I WANT, I CAN DO WHAT I WANT’.