Father fends off kidnapper who tried to snatch his young son
A brave father has fought off a kidnapper who tried to snatch his two-year-old son from his arms outside a suburban Melbourne library. Michael Rawson punched the man in the head as he shielded the young boy. WATCH THE VIDEO
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The terrifying moment a father tried to fight off his two-year-old son’s attempted kidnapper outside a suburban Melbourne library has been captured on CCTV.
The dad can be seen struggling with Michael Paul Rawson, 41, as he tries to grab the toddler from his clutches while they were out walking their dog.
The County Court heard Rawson had been bailed from the Preston Police station minutes before the attack on November 25 last year.
Police put him in a taxi around 8.20pm and only 150m down the road, he jumped out and started walking towards the father and son, who were playing on the communal seating outside the Preston Library.
“I will help him down,” Rawson said to the father who was juggling being on his phone and holding a dog lead while helping his son get down from off a seat.
Rawson, wearing a black dressing gown over a Hawthorn footy jumper, put the father in a headlock and forced him to the ground.
The dad quickly curled into a ball around his son to try and shield him, as his attacker repeatedly punched him to the back of the head.
When the father placed his hands on the back of his head to stop the blows, the offender grabbed the boy and started to run away.
A passer-by ran in to help, grabbing Rawson around the waist to stop him.
The father, bleeding from his mouth, managed to get to his feet and rushed in to save his screaming son.
Rawson, from Heidelberg Heights, fled only to be arrested hiding in a nearby garden soon after.
He pleaded guilty to attempted kidnapping, common assault, recklessly causing injury, resisting and assaulting an emergency worker and committing an indictable offence on bail.
The attempted kidnapping charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years.
He will be sentenced at a later date.
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