Man pleads guilty to sex attack on kids after luring duo from care centre
WARNING DISTRESSING CONTENT: A Perth man has admitted sexually abusing two young children he lured from a child care facility.
Vincenzo Mule initially denied preying on the five-year-old boy and four-year-old girl in April 2016, but changed his plea at the last minute on Thursday.
The 53-year-old entered guilty pleas to three counts of sexual penetration of a child under 13 and two counts of deprivation of liberty.
Mule lured the two young children away from a North Perth care centre, and then made both children perform sex acts on him before he molested the girl.
The kids were left at Hyde Park before being found by a member of the public in the playground.
That person then alerted the authorities, with the holiday care centre not aware the children were missing.
A manhunt ensued, with police releasing CCTV footage showing the children following a man along a footpath.
The incident was described as "every parent's worst nightmare".
The children were supposed to pre-record their evidence for Vincenzo's trial on Thursday, but at the last minute, the North Perth man changed his plea to guilty.
Mule, who appeared in court wearing prison greens, has been remanded in custody until February 10 for a sentence hearing.
He’ll also appear in the Perth Supreme Court in March on an unrelated arson matter.
