A young Sydney girl has been left "extremely distressed" after a man allegedly slid through her bedroom window and indecently assaulted her in the middle of the night.
The eight-year-old was asleep when the man climbed onto her bed and briefly spoke to her before indecently assaulting her at the family's Kingsford home in the early hours of Monday, police say.
The girl, who was not physically injured, told her mother who then contacted police.
The child and family are "extremely distressed" by the incident, Superintendent Karen McCarthy told reporters on Wednesday.
"This is a very rare but obviously a very serious matter," she said.
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"We are working closely with the family to make sure they are well supported. The welfare of our young victim and family is of paramount importance."
The girl told police the man had an Australian or British accent.
Police on Wednesday released CCTV footage of the man using what appears to be a chair to climb into the raised ground floor window about 2.50am.
The video then shows him climbing out again some two minutes later. He jumps a fence and flees.
The man - wearing a dark hooded jumper, cargo pants and a hat - was last seen running down Barker Street near the University of New South Wales towards McDonald's.
A large-scale police operation is underway to find the attacker with officers sweeping the area.
Anyone with CCTV or dash-cam footage from the past fortnight is being urged to contact police.
