Perth girl, 9, allegedly 'enticed' into man's car on way to school
The girl was allegedly approached by a man in his 30s outside her primary school.
A driver has been arrested after allegedly "enticing" a young girl into his car as she walked to school in Perth's south on Friday morning.
The nine-year-old schoolgirl was walking in Warnbro when police allege she was approached by an "unknown vehicle" outside Koorana Primary school around 8.45am.
Police confirm they were notified of the situation and immediately responded, deploying resources to the area to locate the missing child.
A short time later the schoolgirl was located outside an IGA supermarket in Port Kennedy after walking through the store's back entrance and approaching staff to ask for help.
"She was crying and obviously really upset," a woman who works at a nearby business told ABC News.
Parent at school calls police
Police said they were notified by another parent at the school, who saw the girl getting in the car and thought it seemed "suspicious".
"They thought that was suspicious and immediately reported it to the school,” Sex crimes division acting Detective Inspector Scott Johnson said at a press conference on Friday afternoon.
“The school did their due diligence in checking to see if the child was at school and contacted the parents and she wasn’t so police responded," he said.
"A short time later, she was found at the IGA behind me where members from the shop have identified the child was in distress and contacted police.
"Shortly afterwards, police from a number of different units swamped the Rockingham area and located a male in his 30s and what we believe is the vehicle used to take the child."
Det-Insp. Johnson said the parent's quick-thinking helped to resolve the case quickly.
About 8:45am today, police were advised that a child in Warnbro had been picked up in an unknown vehicle. A number of police resources were immediately deployed to the area to locate the child. The child was located outside a supermarket in Port Kennedy area a short time later.
— WA Police Force (@WA_Police) July 21, 2023
“That’s probably one of the primary reasons that this resolved — a parent noticing that something wasn’t right, seeing a child get into a car when they were almost at school and reporting it straight away, it’s of utmost importance."
A man believed to be in his 30s has been taken into police custody and is assisting police with their inquiries.
The girl was taken to Perth Children’s Hospital for an assessment, and will be interviewed by specialist police.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
