Girl avoids attempted child abduction
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“Just in the past two weeks we’ve had a couple of reports of strangers taking pictures of children while they were playing in their yards,” said Sheriff Jackie Matheny. “Then, this week we had a report of a man trying to coax a little girl into his car in the Jacksboro area. That, on top of a report we had of a similar incident at Riverfront Park recently has us a little uneasy.”
Matheny said the reports of unusual activity have come from several areas of the county, including reports from the Old Shelbyville Road, Hoover Drive and Jacksboro areas as well as the city park. While the motives of the candid photographers are unclear, lawmen are curious why a strange adult would focus on children at play.
The attempted abduction of children is even more worrisome, prompting lawmen to launch a full investigation. Matheny pointed out the vehicle had been seen cruising in the area before the reported incident occurred.
“This may be nothing to all this, but I’d just be sick if something happened to a child because we didn’t alert folks,” Matheny said. “We don’t want to panic people but at the same time we want them to be aware of this suspicious activity.”
Matheny suggests parents remind their children about the dangers of talking to strangers or getting into vehicles with people they don’t know.
“All it takes is a split second for a child to be abducted so we want parents to make sure they discuss the dangers with their children,” Matheny said.