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Man exposes himself to 12-year-old girl in Virginia Beach parking lot

Posted at 10:49 PM, Mar 23, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-24 13:48:39-04

Virginia Beach, Va. - A quick trip to the grocery store turned into a traumatic experience for a Virginia Beach mother and her daughter, when a man exposed himself to the 12-year-old girl.

"I  feel completely helpless being that I was there at the time and wasn't able to shield my child from this sick person," said Olivia Hansen, the girl's mother.  Hansen was only feet away from her daughter when the incident happened, she was loading groceries into their car.

"It didn't occur to me that I need to focus on possible danger right next to us at a grocery store," she explained.

Hansen and her daughter say it all happened outside of the Food Lion near the intersection of Military Highway and Indian River Road at 10:30 a.m. She says her daughter thought the man was trying to get out of his car, so she quickly got into hers, but instead of getting out of his car he got the girl's attention.

"He waved to her and she gave him a thumbs up to show she was out of the way and he could get out. That's when he looked her right in the eye and exposed himself."

Hansen says her daughter was so shocked, it took some time for her to find the words to tell her mother what happened.

"It took a couple of minutes for her to give basic details. Even now she wont tell me everything she said she will write more of it down when she gets home."

Once her daughter explained, Hansen called the Food Lion to see if the man was still there. He was gone. Her next call was to Virginia Beach Police. Now Hansen wants to make sure Police find the man, so he doesn't do the same thing to another young girl.

"I want other people to be aware of this man so that they don`t have to deal with what my child is dealing with today," said Hansen.

And so her daughter can feel safe again.

"She already told me that she is afraid to look in the direction of men I hope that is only because it happened today. I want her to have that trust again."

Hansen's daughter told police the man who exposed himself to her is a white man with brightly dyed orange hair and goatee. She also says he was driving a red car. If you know who this man is, police ask that you take action and call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.