A notification made through Victoria Police's new reporting tool STOPIT has led to the arrest of a man over a series of indecent acts spanning five months.
The man, 20, was arrested on Friday morning.
It comes after a 22-year-old woman travelling on a city-bound train from Ballarat on 23 July used STOPIT to notify police of a man performing an explicit sexual act next to her.
A 16-year-old girl was subjected to similar behaviour aboard a Ballarat-bound train the same day.
Police allege the arrested man is linked to a series of indecent acts, the first on 7 March this year when a man performed an explicit sexual act in front of a 29-year-old woman aboard a city-bound train from Geelong.
On April 3 a man performed an explicit sexual act next to a 21-year-old woman on a city-bound Hurstbridge line train while another incident, this time involving a 31-year-old female victim, occurred aboard a tram in Melbourne's CBD on 8 August.
Detectives from Victoria Police's Transit Crime Investigation Unit on Friday executed a search warrant at a property in Bentleigh East.
The arrested man has been charged with five counts of sexual activity directed at a person and appeared before Moorabbin Magistrates' Court on Friday.
The STOPIT service, which launched on trains in July and expanded to trams and buses last month, is the first of its kind in Australia.
It aims to combat unwanted sexual behaviour on public transport.
Today's arrest is the first made using information gathered from STOPIT.
Anyone subjected to such behaviour can text 'STOPIT' to 0499 455 455 and fill out a form which is sent directly to a specialist team of transit police.
The service is not monitored live and should not be used if an urgent response is required.
For further information go to https://www.police.vic.gov.au/stopitExternal Link.
Quotes attributable to Transit Crime Investigation Unit Detective Senior Sergeant Rob Milliken:
"STOPIT is about calling out unwanted sexual behaviour for what it is - completely unacceptable.
"Every piece of information helps us make the public transport network safer.
"If you see something, please say something."
