A Queensland mum has been left reeling after the attempted abduction of her six-year-old son.
Jenni Cousens was preparing lunch for her son, Cody, when a man entered the fenced yard of her home in Proserpine. The man — described as a 30-year-old caucasian male, with an athletic build — walked up the side of the house and past the family dog to reach the trampoline where the youngster was playing.
“My son, who is six years old, was jumping on it [the trampoline] and was lured off and to the front gate with the promise of puppies!” Cousens wrote in a Facebook post.
“He told my son to wait at the gate while he went to get the puppies to give to him (probably went to fetch this car to get him in?!).”
Thankfully, Cody made his way back to the family home to excitedly share the news with his mum.
“My son didn’t end up waiting (thank god!) as he came to the front door and alerted me to what just happened and how we were going to get new puppies to play with,” she said.
The mother-of-three, a paramedic, immediately notified the police. She then took to social media to issue an urgent plea to fellow parents, with a post that has since been shared nearly 5,000 times and ‘liked’ over 1,000 times.
“I’ve done this as a warning to other parents like me who think your child is secure and will be ok for 5 minutes while you just …….. fix them something to eat! Or go to the toilet or change a babies nappy!” she wrote.
“Those of us especially living in small communities that kids of various ages are out and about playing, riding their bikes and out of your sight playing with the neighbours kids etc (especially during school holidays).”
She continued: “My son could have been the next William Tyrell (abducted at 3 years old), Daniel Morcombe (abducted, violated and murdered at 13 years old) all the other poor children who were taken by these vile child sex offenders who are opportunistic predators!”
Ms Cousens took to social media to alert fellow parents to the possible threat. Image via Facebook.
According to The Townsville Bulletin, a spokesman for Queensland Police said officers were conducting inquiries and were trying to “substantiate the veracity of the complaint.”
“I’d stepped away for a minute and even then someone has taken the opportunity to brazenly try and lure him away in broad daylight,” she told the publication. “My partner Gavin and I have just had our world turned upside down.”
She added: “We’re terrified now, we just keep thinking what might have happened to him if he didn’t come to knock on the door, would we still have him today?
