A man has been charged over the alleged abduction of a boy and the attempted snatching of a second child from the same Western Australia home.
Police will allege the 34-year-old entered a home in Moora, about 177 kilometres north of Perth, on Friday about 4am and abducted an eight-year-old boy.
It is then alleged he then went back into the Padbury Street home in an attempt to snatch the boy’s 12-year-old brother.
The man, who is understood to be unknown to the boys, allegedly dragged the older boy out the front door of the house.
However, the youngster was able to break free from the man’s grip and ran back into the home where he raised the alarm to his parents.
The family then discovered the eight-year-old was missing and began frantically searching the neighbourhood before calling police.
Officers arrived and conducted a search of the area before they spotted the “distressed” eight-year-old boy at a nearby property about 7:10am.
Both boys were taken to hospital for precautionary checks and have since been returned to the care of their father.
Their dad told reporters he “didn’t know” why his sons were targeted.
Inspector Kareene Santoro on Friday praised the older brother who was able to defend himself and immediately find help in the confronting situation.
“The 12-year-old boy’s courage and bravery to get himself out of that situation was tremendous,” she told reporters.
“Going and alerting an adult straight away of what had occurred was a really good job by him.”
Police said the home’s CCTV appeared to show the suspect walk into the house and then exit with the eight-year-old boy.
One local said it was a “very scary” situation given man children often play outside in the small and tight-knit community.
“I’ve got grandkids that run around in town as well, so won’t be letting the kids go anywhere now,” she said to 7News.
Officers charged the 34-year-old man with two counts of forcibly or fraudulently detaining a child under 16, two counts of aggravated burglary, one count of deprivation of liberty, disguised to commit an offence and criminal damage.
He is set to face Perth Magistrate’s Court on Saturday.
Source: skynews.com.au
