Bridgton police are investigating reports that someone tried to compel a 9-year-old girl to get into a van near a swimming hole Saturday off Kansas Road.

The girl reported the incident to her father who called police. Police Chief Kevin Schofield said that based on the investigation so far, and two days of interviews, police believe the incident did occur.
 
Police have identified a man who may have been in the area and are seeking to interview him, Schofield said. Police are looking for a white-haired, heavy-set man driving a white cargo van, he said.

The girl was swimming at Stevens Brook with friends and relatives when she walked up by the road and was confronted by a man. The man laid hands on her but she was able to fend him off, police said.

The man drove off toward downtown Bridgton and the girl went to a nearby home and called her father, police said.