For a second time, man is found lurking near West Seattle school

SEATTLE, Wash. — It's creepy, it's scary, and it's happened again:  A man lurking around a West Seattle school, staring at young girls, while he sits in his car naked from the waist down.

On Wednesday, parents got an alert from Holy Rosary School that the strange man had been there at lunch time.

Seattle police say the man was in his car, loitering by the playground.  Three 14-year-old girls saw him, and thought he was trying to get pictures or video of them with his phone, so they moved away.

He followed them, driving his car closer.  Police said from there, the girls could see his car door was open, and the lower half of him was naked.  They ran to a recess monitor.  The man sped away.

"These are children; leave the poor children alone," said parent Fred Zimmer.

He was frustrated and shaken as he picked up his two young daughters.  Zimmer made the same trip several days ago, when he got a horrifying call about a similar scare.

"My little daughter was a witness to that incident," he said as his daughter  stood half hiding behind him.

Zimmer was referring to Sept. 9.  At about 1:15 that afternoon, police say three younger girls - all 9 years old - were sitting on the edge of the playground when they noticed a man in a large, white SUV next to the playground.  The man summoned them over to his vehicle.  When they got closer, they saw he was reclined in the driver's seat, without any pants or underwear.  They ran back to the school.

There was no physical contact between the suspect and the children in either incident, but that is little consolation as people in the area worry about the future.

"So disgusting and so disturbing for them, and how scary," said Patti Hair, whose home overlooks the Holy Rosary playground at 4142 42nd Ave. SW.

"That type of thing always seems to lead to something more.  That can be the beginning to the behavior, and then, what's next?" Hair wondered.

The school referred all questions to the Seattle Archdiocese, whose spokesperson Greg Magnoni told KIRO 7 the school was in touch with Seattle Police Department and had devised some extra security measures at the school.

Magnoni thought it was best to keep details under wraps.

Seattle police say they don't know whether both incidents involve the same man, but they're certainly looking into it, and patrol officers in the area are aware of the investigation.

KIRO