Case closed: Police say nothing sinister in old man approaching child

Tuesday 25 November 2014

We all warn our children not to talk to strangers but what if they are genuinely and innocently trying to help?

It seems one old man was doing just that this summer when he approached one young schoolgirl as she walked home near Maufant. Detectives launched an investigation back in June after reports that an elderly man had approached a seven-year-old girl who had become separated from her friends while playing in the Maufant area.

The girl was walking by the junction between Rue de la Bachauderie and Rue de Potirons in St Martin when she was approached by the man in his 70’s, who took her by the hand.

Although plain clothes detectives and uniform officers scoured the area looking for him they were unable to identify him at the time but have since managed to track him down and establish that he didn’t mean any harm.

A Police spokesman said: “Police have now identified the elderly man involved and have established there was no criminal intent and rather just a genuine misunderstanding.”

The incident happened around the same time as two possible child abduction attempts were made in town when a 50 year-old woman approached two toddlers, one in the Royal Square and another in Liberation Square.

The woman was later arrested over those incidents but wasn't charged.