By Rebecca Peppiatt, Mia Egerton-Warburton and Holly Thompson
A 37-year-old man who allegedly took a young girl from outside her Perth primary school on Friday morning has appeared in court after being charged by police.
Friends of the young girl say she did not know the man, Ryan Ashley Darken, whose car she was allegedly enticed into.
Ryan Ashley Darken was taken into police custody on Friday.Credit: Night News
Darken appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on Saturday morning, charged with detaining another with intent to harm, deprivation of liberty, assault and making threats.
He was wearing forensic scrubs and did not apply for bail. He was remanded to Rockingham Magistrates Court on September 4.
A family friend told WAtoday the nine-year-old, currently at Perth Children’s Hospital undergoing assessment and specialist police interviews, was “shaken, as you would be” but that she was “back in Mum’s arms now” and “so, so glad to be safe”.
Police were alerted by another parent from the school just before 9am. She had seen the child get into a car she thought looked suspicious, and reported it to the school.
“School did their due diligence in checking to see if the child was at school,” acting Detective Inspector Scott Johnson, from the sex crimes division, said.
“When they found that she was missing from school, police responded to the incident and a short time later she was found at the IGA where members from the shop identified that the child was in distress and called police.”
Police then “swamped” the area and found a man in his 30s who they took into custody. He remained at the local police station on Friday afternoon being interviewed by local detectives and the child abuse squad.
The girl was believed to have been missing for an hour and during that time her mother posted to a local Facebook group, asking others to “please help.”
The shopping centre at which the child was found. Credit: WA INCIDENT ALERTS
Johnson praised the parent who raised the alarm.
“That’s probably one of the primary reasons this will be resolved as quickly as it was,” he said.
“A parent noticing that something wasn’t right, seeing a child get into a car when they were almost at school and reporting it straight away is of the utmost importance.”
Johnson said it was a timely reminder for parents to have “that hard conversation” with their children.
“Stranger danger, about not talking to anybody or going with anybody, or doing anything online,” he said.
“That parent was obviously switched on enough to know what was happening and that it wasn’t right.”
Police address the media. Credit: Nine News
Johnson added that it was a very distressing time for the child and her family and that for police, this was one of the most serious offences they were called to deal with.
“A young child going missing – the most vulnerable people in our society and it prompted a response from most of Metro to get down here,” he said.
Police asked any witnesses who saw any suspicious behaviour around 8.45am to come forward with any information while investigations continued.
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