Mum speaks after 'terrifying' sexual assault on train during peak hour

A mother of three has spoken out after being repeatedly sexually assaulted by a man on a Melbourne train during a morning commute.

Jill Perrett, 49, boarded a Flinders Street-bound train at Thornbury station, in the city’s north, on May 16, just after 9.30am.

With no seats available, she was standing when she became aware an unknown man was “very close to her.”

“By the time the train reached Clifton Hill, I realised he was very close to me,” Ms Perret said during a press conference today.

She attempted to move through the crowd to make the man aware she was not comfortable, but he persisted.

“It escalated until I was terrified,” the 49-year-old said.

“He was touching me on the leg, pressing up against my back,” she said, adding that his movements were probably not obvious to fellow commuters.

“I was thinking he would run away, but he didn’t.”

When she got off the train at Flagstaff Station, the man continued to stalk her.

“He came right up along side me, so I confronted him and asked, ‘are you following me’.”

The offender replied with a rude comment about giving the victim a “lap-dance”.

It wasn’t until Ms Perrett was able to alert train station staff at the platform barrier that the offender fled.

Security cameras snapped images of the victim’s attacker, who is described as having an Asian appearance, aged 20-25, about 160cm tall, slim, with a thin moustache.

He was wearing a navy New York Yankees baseball cap, navy baseball style jacket with white sleeves and beige pants.

Ms Perrett said she is now hesitant to use public transport in the future.

“I won’t be catching the train for some time now.”

She added that women shouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable going about their everyday activities.

“Enough is enough. We’ve got to call out these creeps.”