According to police, a Massachusetts man attempted to sexually abuse a 5-year-old child at a soccer game

A 27-year-old South Yarmouth man is facing multiple criminal charges after police say he attempted to sexually assault a five-year-old child during a soccer game at Peter Homer Park on Tuesday.

During the game, police said, Ryan Evans lured the child behind the park’s restrooms, where the attempted assault occurred. The child’s screams “scared away” Evans, who fled the area, police said.

Several police officers arrived at the park shortly before 8 p.m. Tuesday and began searching for the suspect, later identified as Evans, who rode away on an electric bike, Yarmouth police said in a statement posted on Facebook. Yarmouth firefighters went to the scene to check the child for injuries.

Police launched an “extensive search” for the man, searching residential areas, parks, businesses and a nearby bike path. As the search intensified, tips came in from social media.

Following the incident, police deployed plainclothes officers, bicycle patrols and “additional resources” to find the suspect and “provide a higher level of security,” the statement said.

Just before 7 p.m. Wednesday night, Yarmouth police stopped a vehicle, located Evans and took him into custody. Evans is charged with forcible rape of a child, child abduction and indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14, police said.

Police are “familiar” with Evans and have “dealt with him in the past,” they said in their Facebook post. In 2021, he was charged with unarmed burglary and assault, child abuse, assault and property damage, and theft.