A boy stands near laundry hanging outside his home in Doctor Juan Leon Mallorquin March 13, 2014. Poverty affects nearly 40 percent of the Paraguayan population and is concentrated in sub-urban areas and in the rural sector.
A boy stands near laundry hanging outside his home in Doctor Juan Leon Mallorquin March 13, 2014. Poverty affects nearly 40 percent of the Paraguayan population and is concentrated in sub-urban areas and in the rural sector. Reuters/Jorge Adorno
A boy stands near laundry hanging outside his home in Doctor Juan Leon Mallorquin March 13, 2014. Poverty affects nearly 40 percent of the Paraguayan population and is concentrated in sub-urban areas and in the rural sector. REUTERS/Jorge Adorno (PARAGUAY - Tags: SOCIETY POVERTY)

A man with an apparent fetish for women's underwear has been uncovered by the Victorian Police. Reports said that a search on his flat at Power Street, Hawthorn on Nov 10 yielded 18 pairs of panties.

Police believe the 27-year-old man is behind the theft of female undies stolen from clotheslines in the Hawthorne neighbourhood. He allegedly filched the items in February. Probers have found the owners of three of the stolen intimate garments. They will entertain inquiries from women whose undies were stolen the past few months while drying out on their yards.

The suspect is facing theft charges and is slated to appear before the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Friday.

At about the same period but thousands of miles away, police in Kodiak, Alaska, arrested Ryan Cornelio, 18, for also stealing women's panties the past three months. Cornelio is the suspect in seven incidents of underwear theft in their community.

When police searched his house, Cornelio fled but was caught and arrested. Unlike the Australian man with an apparent fetish for panties, Cornelio stole the undies inside homes, not from clothelines.

He is facing three charges of first-degree burglary. Police reminded Kodiak residents to always lock their doors to prevent thieves from stealing their undies and other items are home.

Similar incidents have been either reported or recorded by CCTV is other countries.

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