False child abduction story may have adult influence: psychologist
After hours of searching, questioning and calls for public assistance it turned out a reported child abduction made by three young girls ended up being a false alarm.
Early Sunday afternoon three girls, ages six and seven, reported that a man driving a white vehicle stopped outside a park in the 5400 block of Lassaline Avenue, grabbed a young girl and sped away.
It was a dramatic tale, but after some questioning by parents and police, and a five hour investigation involving about 50 police officers, the details began to fall apart.
"Asking them more questions with the detectives and police officers showed that the first answers the girl was here, and then she was there," said Abdulah Almuhana, the father of one of the girls behind the claim.
Young children easily influenced
Almuhana said the story might have started after the mother of one of the girls was talking about some serious topics a day before the incident.
"She was telling her daughter about kidnapping and murdering, and I thought, oh, I don't want to be certain that it's nothing happened, but I should ask my daughter first," said Almuhana.
Child psychologist Ralph Billingsley said these type of topics can have a big impact on young, impressionable minds.
"If there's been talk in the adult world and children hear that and are exposed to it, it makes things more real for them," said Billingsley. "Instead of its just an idea that something can happen, if an adult talks about it it becomes a possibility."
When discussing safety issues with children Billingsley said parents should try not to focus on the most extreme and rare events.
"I think you want to reflect the reality of when children go missing, and abduction is very rare, so you wouldn't want to make that the focal point," he said.
Police treat every case seriously
Last year in Ontario, there were six cases of children being abducted by a stranger. Windsor police said reports like this have to be taken seriously.
"It's not going deter us from the next time we receive a 911 call of this magnitude," said Const. Andrew Drouillard. "We're going to respond accordingly, if there's a potential that an abduction has taken place, we're going to take it seriously from the start."
Police say there was no amber alert issued was because the incident did not meet the criteria — police did did not receive a missing child report at any time during the investigation.
