A Seascapes teenager has vowed never to walk alone in her own suburb after a half-naked, middle-aged man chased her and a friend along an isolated path.
Latoya McCabe and her friend Amelia are convinced the man tried to abduct them when they were walking back from a nearby park about 3.30pm on June 24.
The 13-year-olds were approaching an isolated beach carpark at the end of Daydream Plaza when they spotted a green sedan with its boot and doors wide open.
As they walked passed they noticed the man sitting in the back of the car. He immediately got up and walked into the bushes.
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Latoya said it was at that point her senses went into overdrive and she immediately felt uneasy.
Having made plans to meet Amelia’s twin sister in the area, the two Halls Head College students cautiously found a spot in the corner in the carpark to wait.
The girls heard a series of strange noises from the bushes.
Moment’s later the girls spotted the man, who was just wearing pants and grabbing his genitals, emerge near the car.
“We just thought he might have been going to the toilet,” Latoya said.
“Every time we looked back his eyes were on us.”
The man then grabbed what appeared to be white, dirty sheets out of the boot and laid them across commodore’s back seat.
It wasn’t until the man launched towards them that they realised the gravity of the situation.
Latoya was the first to notice. She stood up, screamed and ran.
“It happened so quickly. He almost got us,” she said.
Amelia had her headphones in at the time and wasn’t as quick to process the scene.
Latoya said the man got within five metres of Amelia before she was able to react and sprint up the adjoining path.
Just steps from his grasp with adrenaline pumping, the girls bolted towards Latoya’s family home.
Latoya’s mother Kellie was in the front yard watching her son Jhett riding his bike when she first heard the girls.
“All I heard was their footsteps,” she said.
Frantic, yelling for her mother and running at full-spirit was how Kellie first saw Latoya.
“The girls were screaming and running for their lives,” she said.
Once the girls caught their breath and managed to blurt out what had happened, Kellie said she wanted to go find the man.
But Latoya and Amelia begged her not to.
Kellie said initially she downplayed the incident in an attempt to calm the girls down.
It wasn’t until the following day that Kellie realised the danger her daughter and Amelia had been in.
She pleaded with other parents to sit down and have a serious conversation with their children about strangers.
Kellie said if the girls didn’t trust their instincts the man would have caught up to them.
“If they didn’t leave when they did he would have caught them,” she said.
She said Latoya and Amelia were still trying to grapple with what happened on that afternoon and it wasn’t fair that young girls were put in such a traumatic situation.
Since the incident, Latoya hasn’t walked to school like she usually would.
Even at 13, Latoya is taller than her mother. Kellie urged parents to remind their children of the dangers of travelling alone regardless of how fit, tall or confident their child was.
The girls described the man as about 40, Caucasian, tall, medium build, with short brown hair and brown eyes.
He also had thick chest hair.
A police spokesman said Mandurah officers were aware of the incident and urged anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestopperswa.com.au.
Calls are strictly confidential, and rewards are offered.
In a situation where an incident is occurring, or has just occurred, reports should be made to the police assistance centre on 131 444.
For tips on how to educate your child about danger visit the Department of Child Protection’s website.
Follow Caitlyn Rintoul on Twitter via @caitlyrintoul.
