Father saw suspect who sexually assaulted his 8-year-old son in tent at Loch Ness campsite walk away

The father of a young boy who was sexually assaulted at a campsite in the Highlands saw the suspect walk away from his son’s tent, police have said.

Detective Superintendent Calum Smith said the eight-year-old had been left “traumatised and upset” by the incident, which took place at the Loch Ness Bay campsite near Drumnadrochit before 1am on Thursday.

The Loch Ness Bay campsite | Google Maps

Police Scotland have launched a significant investigation and are working “every day” to find the suspect, who is described as a bald man aged 35-50 and about 5ft 10in.

The child was in a tent when a man approached him and carried out the attack. The boy’s family were in a tent next to him.

Mr Smith spoke to journalists about the ongoing investigation on Friday. He said: “At the time, the father has overheard the incident, has come out, and has seen the man walking away from the tent.”

The detective said the suspect spoke back to the boy’s father, who had asked what he was doing, before walking off.

Officers are keeping an open mind as to whether the suspect was staying at campsite, south of Inverness, he said.

Mr Smith said: “I fully understand that the public will be upset with what’s happened and distressed with this incident happening in the local area. What I would like to do is reassure the public that we have got dedicated resources working every day towards resolving it, and identifying the person involved and bringing them to justice.”

Police have appealed for information, asking anyone who was in the area at the time to get in touch.

Loch Ness Bay Camping | Google

While there is CCTV at the campsite, the incident itself was not caught on camera.

Mr Smith said the public had been “excellent” in helping so far. He said the boy and his family were being supported by specialist officers.

The detective said: “This is reassuringly very, very rare. However, that doesn’t take away from the fact that this is a very distressing, horrible incident that we need to resolve.”

Anyone with information has been asked to call Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 0167 of July 31.