‘Creeped out’: Woman’s terrifying ordeal

A WOMAN has described her terrifying experience after a "peeping Tom" was caught looking and subsequently exposing himself through her bedroom window.

Surveillance footage captured a man prowling outside Nikki Sherry's home on July 14 in Berkeley, a city in Northern California, on the east side of San Francisco Bay. It's home to the University of California.

The senior, who attends the university, spotted the man peering through her window in the early hours and she was "creeped out".

Ms Sherry told KTVU she had just returned home from a night out and was undressing when she saw the man outside her window between about 1.40am.

After putting her pyjamas on, she looked outside the window again.

"I just saw a man holding his penis outside the window," she told KTVU.

Ms Sherry says she saw a man crouching then abruptly zipping up his pants and fleeing the scene.

The security footage shows the man prowling around on the deck near Ms Sherry's window for 16 minutes.

Ms Sherry had moved into the house just three weeks prior. She has since put up a bed sheet to obscure the view into her bedroom.

She and her roommates now make sure all the windows and doors are locked amid fears the man may return and try and gain entry.

Upon seeing the footage, Ms Sherry went to the police. She wants the man caught so he can't do this to anyone else.

Local police have released the footage and are appealing to the public hoping to identify the man.

He was described as a white man, aged between 25 and 30 and estimated to be almost six feet tall.

Police are yet to determine if he is responsible for any related crimes in the area and are concerned he may strike again.

Officer Byron White said peeping through windows is "a precursor to something else", acknowledging the man's crime could "escalate into something more serious".

Police are not encouraging the public to approach this man if they see him, but rather, call police instead.