Narrabeen Lagoon: Teenage boy arrested following hunt for Northern Beaches e-bike predator

A 13-year-old boy has been arrested and charged over 11 separate incidents involving the sexual assault or harassment of women in the Narrabeen Lagoon area of Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

The incidents occurred between September 7 and October 12, involving women and girls aged between 13 and 54.

NSW Police established specialist sexual crimes investigation unit Strike Force Mexvo following the string of sexual assault and harassment reports from women in Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

Strike Force Mexvo brought together specialist detectives and officers from the Sex Crimes Squad to investigate the possible link between descriptions of the perpetrator and areas involved in the recently reported offences.

The unit then released footage of the suspect on Friday, showing a male with a blurred face on an e-bike.

Police urged anyone who knew the male to provide further information of his whereabouts and identity.

On Saturday evening, the boy presented himself to police and was arrested.

“Following a public appeal, a 13-year-old boy was arrested after attending Mona Vale Police Station about 7.30pm yesterday (Saturday 17 October 2026),” a police statement announced

The teenager was then taken to Manly Police Station and charged with three counts of behaving in an offensive manner in a public place and eight counts of sexually touching another person without consent.

The first reported incident in the teen’s alleged string of sexual offences occurred at 3.55pm on October 7 when a woman was allegedly sexually touched by a man riding an e-bike while she was walking on the Narrabeen Lagoon trail.

She described the perpetrator, who sped off after committing the alleged assault, as having a slim build, wearing a fluorescent yellow shirt and dark pants.

Another incident occurred at about 3.15pm the following day of October 8 when a runner on the nearby Narrabeen Lake trail was allegedly subjected to inappropriate sexual remarks.

The victim described the perpetrator as being of Caucasian appearance, aged between 17 and 25, and having short spiky hair and sideburns.

Two hours later on the same day, an e-bike rider allegedly approached another woman exercising at Bilarong Reserve and sexually touched her before fleeing on his e-bike.