TWO children who went missing from a childcare facility for an hour are believed to have been sexually assaulted in North Perth yesterday.
Police Commander Kylie Whitely told media this afternoon the children (a four-year-old girl and a five-year-old boy) were found alone by a woman in Hyde Park at 12.15pm.
Commander Whitely said a man unknown to the kids lured them away from the centre some time after 11.15am.
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READ NOW“He has lured them from premises and they have been found later by a member of the public and the appropriate medical examination was undertaken as well as specialist child interviews,” Commander Whitely said.
“The parents are very distressed and the children are obviously upset.
“We understand how the community will be feeling so we have every available resource on it.”
It is not known where the children were assaulted but police are appealing to anyone who was in Hyde Park, near View and Fitzgerald Streets or the North Perth shopping precinct that saw a man with two young children between 11am and 1pm on Tuesday.
The man is in his late 40-50s with pale skin, a medium build and short, dark, greying hair.
He was wearing glasses, an oversized black jacket, black pants and a black business shirt.
Commander Whitely said police had been investigating the matter overnight.
“It’s every parent’s worst nightmare. This is very serious incident and we are treating it with utmost importance,” she said.
“We have all our available resources working with the child abuse squad and we will continue to do that until we complete the investigation.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a crime report online.