RIPON-

Neighbors in Ripon didn’t know what to think Monday morning when they saw a young girl crying and running as fast as she could toward her elementary school.

“This wasn’t a physical assault but certainly it was a mental and an emotional assault. This could stay with this child for life,” said Steve Merchant, a sergeant with Ripon Police.

The student just steps from her elementary school when a stranger approached her and pulled down his shorts.

“The suspect reportedly came out of an alleyway on a bicycle got the child’s attention, exposed himself to her, then left immediately down an alleyway,” Merchant said.

The girl ran to neighbors and called 911.

Police and parents are worried. Hundreds of kids walk to school every morning, and nobody knows if this person will strike again.

“This is very concerning to us. We don’t want anyone accosting children on their way to school. We have increased our patrols today and in the future,” said Merchant.

The man is in his 30’s, has blond hair and was riding a black mountain bike. He was wearing black basketball shorts, a ball cap and black shoes with a white stripe.

“For a young child, it’s a pretty traumatic incident and sometimes the descriptions, they are not a perfect textbook description, but usually with these cases and with the public’s help we will be able to identify who did this,” said Merchant.

If you know who did this or you see someone fitting the description call Ripon Police.