Gardaí are searching for a serial sex attacker who may be responsible for 15 assaults on women over the past two years.
Detectives believe the man is responsible for sexual assaults and attempted sexual assaults in Co Cavan and, more recently, in Co Carlow.
Det Supt McCann
The Crimestoppers group has offered a reward of €10,000 for information that may lead to his identification.
The attacks took place in public areas where women were walking alone and in the homes of victims where the man gained access by posing as a tradesman.
The man is described as being Irish and aged between 20 and 30. He has black or brown hair and is of a slim build. At times he wears a small gold ring in his left ear and a wedding band.
The attacks are being investigated by gardaí in Carlow and Cavan, but the overall investigation is being co-ordinated by Detective Superintendent John McCann of the National Bureau Criminal Investigation, Harcourt Square, Dublin.
Det Supt McCann said the attacks began in Co Cavan in mid-2005 and continued there until January of this year. At that point they started in Co Carlow and have continued since.
"On occasion he has carried a knife but he has always made threatening gestures towards the people concerned," Det Supt McCann added.
"We are asking for anyone who has information in relation to these crimes to contact the Crimestoppers phone number.
"Anyone who may have been a victim of these crimes and hasn't so far notified the gardaí . . . we're asking them to come forward because the more information we have the better chance we have of identifying the suspect and bring this person to justice.
"We are also appealing for the person in the photograph to come forward to us at any Garda station. He may be in a position to assist us, and he should come forward . . . to identify him in relation to these crimes or eliminate him from these crimes."
The Irish Crimestoppers Trust was set up in 1998 by the Dublin Chamber of Commerce and An Garda Síochána to provide a confidential means for people to report crime, without fear of recrimination, by calling a freephone confidential number (1800-250025).
