Police have not released the name of the man but have said that he is white with brown hair and 44 years old.
The creepy stalker has hijacked the good intentions of the Free Hug movement, started by Jon Turner in Sydney in 2004. Woman Arrested After Giving Boyfriend Unwanted Hug,
Local press have dubbed the man Jack the Gripper and John Wayne Embracey, reports ABC News.
He was arrested on probable cause but later released because police are not clear if his advances violate state law.
According to police reports, the alleged molester approaches a woman while they are shopping, pretends to know them and asks for a hug claiming it is his birthday.
‘He’d say, “Hi, remember me? I lived down the street in the corner house. How ya been?”‘ said Detective Marshall Broughton.
‘Obviously [the women] didn’t remember him, but he did it so quickly and convincingly that they felt embarrassed that they didn’t know him.’
Sometimes the man will pretend to be a medical professional to lull the women into a false sense of security.
Warson Woods Police Chief Robert Stanczak said that the man approached one woman in scrubs, pretending to have met her at the hospital while his wife was giving birth.
He also sometimes exploited name tags on uniforms to feign knowledge of women’s names, once calling a woman named Susan ‘Susie’.
One victim commented on the story reported in the Riverfront Times and explained how he so easily shocks women into submission. Jack the Gripper,
‘All I could do was stand in shock after the hug was givin becuz [sic] I had nothing else in mind as to what to do to get away from him,’ she wrote.
‘The man ur looking for has a more round face not skinny but not over weight… in his forties and a light shade of brown in hair color. Don’t know if that helps but I hope someone catches him soon.’
If prosecutors decide to pursue charges against the man, his identity will become public and a warrant will be issued for his arrest.
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