Deputies are asking for the public's help in identifying a man who they said has been inappropriately touching females near a middle school in Palm Harbor.

According to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, two girls and one woman were groped by the man as they were running in the area of Alderman Road and Cinnamon Hill Boulevard, near Carwise Middle School, on three different occasions.

The suspect is described as a white male, approximately 18-30 years of age, 5'10" tall, about 170 pounds, medium build with brown collar length hair. He was riding a dark colored "BMX" style bike.

During a news conference on Monday, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri alerted the community to be vigilant and asked parents to make informed decisions with regards to their children walking to and from school.

"He lives in the area," said Gualtieri. "It's somebody that somebody knows and we need to get him off the street."

In the first incident, deputies said a 16-year-old girl was jogging along Alderman Road near Cinnamon Hill Boulevard when the man rode up behind her and pulled her on her left side. The girl stated that the man hit her from behind, and reached around the front of her body to grab her breast. 

"As he was holding on to her breast for several seconds, he lost his balance and fell to the ground," said Gualtieri. "After he fell, he got up and got on his bike and rode off."

A 41-year-old woman also reported being groped while jogging along the south side of Alderman Road, where the man approached her and grabbed her shorts, attempting to pull them down. She told deputies she attempted to kick him, but missed. However the man slipped and fell backward. The woman told deputies she saw the man on a bike earlier.

On a third occasion, a 12-year-old girl reported that the man rode by her on his bike and stopped next to her. The girl told deputies the man lifted her skirt and touched her buttocks.

"The girl was startled, of course, afraid, scared and she ran and he left the area," Gualtieri said.

The suspect has also been spotted at 3320 Haviland Court, near the main entrance to the Bentley at Cobbs Landing.

Gualtieri stated that each of the victims are petite females with brown hair and all the time of the incidents were wearing their hair in pony tails. While their age varies from 12-to-41 their physical description is the same, he said.

Robin Thomas lives in the area and tells his 17-year-old daughter to always look behind her when she's walking.

"I don't think I'm going to be using my ear phones," Thomas said. "I think I'll just take a little speaker thing with me now because now I am scared."

Anyone with information that may assist detectives in this investigation is asked to contact Detective Diana Bergman of the Crimes Against Children Unit at 727-582-6200.