Narrabri Police say there have been no attempted child abductions in Narrabri, and want to set the record straight over an incident which led to widespread rumours circulating through the social media website Facebook late last week and throughout the weekend.
Detective senior constable Jason Dickinson has told The Courier that an innocent action on Tuesday afternoon resulted in an “incorrect” rumour mill beginning online.
Last Tuesday afternoon, police were notified of an older male attempting to speak with a 10-year-old girl walking down a street in Narrabri West.
“This older gentleman has family that has left town and he’s by himself, he talks to kids because he misses his own family,” detective senior constable Dickinson said.
“He’s known to police but he’s not any risk to any child whatsoever.”
The incident resulted in many residents taking to the Facebook website to warn people of an abduction attempt.
On one particular public Facebook page, around 50 users wrote comments about the issue.
“I have heard that there was an attempt at someone picking up a kid from the school and I don’t mean in a good way either,” wrote one user.
“I also heard that the car was found with many weapons in it,” wrote another.
The Courier spoke with Narrabri Police on Saturday morning in an attempt to confirm details of an incident.
A local officer said the station was aware of rumours but no abduction attempt had been made and nobody had made an official complaint or statement to police, which The Courier then reported on its Facebook page to dispel any ongoing rumours.
The concern among the community was evident by the number of users who read the report, with a record 3000 people viewing the report on The Courier’s Facebook page.
Barwon Local Area Command, based at Moree, responded to the ongoing issue later in the day through its own Facebook page.
“Superintendent [Jenny] Hayes wishes to dispel any rumours circulating as a result of this incident as no abduction or attempted abduction has been reported to Barwon LAC (Local Area Command) Police,” the statement online said.
“Members of the community are assured that in the event of an actual abduction the protocols of the NSW Police Force would result in this information being circulated in a timely fashion to ensure their safety.”
Detective senior constable Dickinson told The Courier that contact was made with the principals of both Narrabri and Narrabri West public schools, both of whom had parents raise concerns about the initial issue.
“Police spoke with both Mr (Stephen) Maher and Mr (Michael) Clare after the incident occurred, and again yesterday morning,” detective senior constable Dickinson said.
“On Friday their assemblies will be addressed by either myself or an appropriately trained officer, just to advise that everything is alright.
“As I said, it wasn’t an abduction attempt, a gentleman stopped a car to say hello, the girl didn’t hear what the man said, at no time did he try to grab her or anything like that, he just stopped the car to talk to her.
“He’s now aware his actions were inappropriate and hopefully it won’t happen again.”
Detective senior constable Dickinson has advised the community that any person who has a history of harming children is always closely monitored by local police.
“Any person in Narrabri that is on the child protection register is always closely monitored, and at no time were any of these people involved,” he said.
Barwon Local Area commander Jenny Hayes said the safety of young people is a priority and it is a timely reminder for parents to reinforce the importance of alerting their children to stranger danger.
“It is imperative for every resident to report any suspicious incident, to prevent any possible opportunity for a crime,” she said.