Predator warning in Camden

Camden authorities said yesterday that city parents should pay close attention to their children as police search for a predator believed to have targeted several young girls.

Three attacks have been reported since October. The latest targeted an 11-year-old East Camden girl walking near Hayes and 36th Streets about 5:30 p.m. Dec. 11. A man approached and tried to force the girl, a student at Camden Promise School, into his dark-colored minivan. She escaped and ran to tell adults, said Teresa Sicard Archambeault, spokeswoman for the Camden police.

The first attack occurred at 1:20 p.m. Oct. 16 when a man tried to grab a 14-year-old girl walking near Eighth and Everett Streets and to force her into a minivan near Charles Sumner Elementary School. The girl was shaken but escaped, Archambeault said.

On Nov. 11, a 14-year-old girl was grabbed near Riletta T. Cream Elementary School shortly after 7 p.m. and forced into a yard in the 1800 block of Mulford Street, where she was sexually assaulted, Archambeault said.

Police say the attacks may be connected because of similarities in the descriptions of the vehicles. The victims' descriptions of the attacker varied.

Anyone with information was asked to call Detective Ava Berry or Sgt. Kurt Clauss at 856-757-7271.