Man arrested for alleged bus sex attack

A 42-year-old man has been arrested over an alleged sexual assault of a teenager on a Gold Coast bus last week.

The Surfers Paradise man was arrested about 9pm last night after CCTV of the suspect was released by police.

He was charged with one count of sexual assault, one count of public nuisance and one count of making threats about 11:30pm last night.

The 18-year-old victim, who is described as slightly built, was allegedly pinned against a window and attacked for several minutes by a middle-aged male passenger in Surfside last Friday afternoon.

The girl was allegedly told by the attacker that her head would be smashed through the bus window if she cried out for help.

Other passengers, including school children, watched in horror but none of them intervened during the alleged 13-minute attack, including the driver.

The CCTV footage shows a man with short reddish hair and wearing a dark red flannelette shirt get on the bus and sit next to the girl.

The teen eventually fled when the alleged assailant got off at the same stop in Southport.

The teen's mother, who cannot be named to protect the identity of her daughter, has called for an overhaul of on-board security.

"Bus drivers are not allowed to interfere, which is fair enough, but someone has to," she was quoted as saying.

She suggested on-board emergency distress buttons and procedures that empower bus drivers to head straight to the nearest police station when there are signs of trouble.

Buses are already fitted with CCTV and two-way radio communication between drivers and their operation centre for security purposes, a TransLink spokesman said.