A man has been charged after a young boy fought him off in an alleged abduction where he had already attempted to take the child’s younger brother as the family slept.
The terrifying alleged abduction of the two young boys rocked Moora in Western Australia’s wheatbelt region on Friday morning.
WA Police arrested a 34-year-old man on Friday and charged him with two counts of detaining a child under 16, two counts of aggravated burglary, deprivation of liberty, disguise to commit an offence and criminal damage.
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They do not believe he knew the boys.
He will appear in the Perth Magistrates’ Court on Saturday.
WA Police Inspector Kareene Santoro said the actions of the 12-year-old boy led to the quick resolution of the “very traumatic incident”.
“(His) courage and bravery to get himself out of that situation was tremendous, and going and alerting an adult straight away of what had occurred was a really good job by him,” Inspector Santoro told reporters.
Police will allege a man broke into the home on Padbury St via the front door and tried to drag the 12-year-old out about 5am.
But the boy fought back and raised the alarm with an adult in the house.
It was then that they discovered his eight-year-old brother was missing.
Police conducted a search of the area and a short time later, about 7.10am, found the 8-year-old boy at a nearby home.
Inspector Santoro said the boy came to the door in ‘a distressed state’, but glad to be found
Both children were taken to hospital for a routine medical check.
“He seems to be in really good spirits, has been really brave about the incident and is just happy to be back with his family,” Inspector Santoro said.
The West Australian reported the boys were being cared for by a family friend while their father was at work.
