Child’s shock encounter with strange man inside family home

It started as a normal Friday for a Brisbane mother-of-four. But with four simple words spoken by a stranger to her nine-year-old son, it spiralled into a nightmare.

A Tingalpa mother has recounted the horrifying moment her nine-year-old son was almost kidnapped inside her own home. Maraea Powell and her children Arana, 9 (boy) and Jada 12 (girl). Picture: Nigel Hallett

A Brisbane mother has recounted the shocking moment her nine-year-old son was almost kidnapped inside the family home.

What started as a normal Friday morning for mother-of-four Maraea Powell quickly spiralled into a nightmare after she asked her son, Arana, to grab his school shoes from the front porch as she jumped into the shower.

After getting his shoes, Arana went back into the house to get ready for school before realising a man had followed him inside.

The man was accompanied by a dog on a leash.

“The guy walked forward towards him and my son started backing up into the hallway,” Ms Powell said. “The man was asking him about the dog – does he know the dog’s name? Does he want to pat the dog?”

Ms Powell said her four-year-old and five-year-old children were sleeping in the next room over from where the man was standing. Arana ran out of the house, but that didn’t stop the man from attempting to re-enter the home via the side of the property.

CCTV footage of a man and dog. Source: Supplied.

“My cousin happened to be working in our garage and was looking right up the driveway, as the guy came towards him,” Ms Powell said.

“That is when my son ran towards my cousin. The guy must’ve seen Arana with my cousin, because then he just left.”

Ms Powell said Arana didn’t tell her the full story of what had happened until the following Monday.

“When he told (my husband and I) we were kind of like, why didn’t you scream? Why didn’t you say anything?” she said.

“My son just said he didn’t know what else to do, he had never been in that position. I am still just overthinking the situation, just going through all the emotions. You know, you feel angry, then upset.” 

A Queensland Police Service spokeswoman said investigations into the incident were ongoing.

“Initial information indicates that around 5.50am, a man was walking a dog and entered an … address and spoke to a child occupant of the property, not known to them,” the spokeswoman said.

“The child then went to the property’s backyard and alerted an adult occupant, who saw the unknown male and dog along the outside of the property before they left the property through the front yard.

“No one was physically injured during the occurrence. Police first became aware of the incident via social media.

“Police received a formal report from the child’s family on October 10. Initial inquiries into these reports are ongoing.”

She said there was no ongoing threat to public safety and to the community.

Originally published as Child’s shock encounter with strange man inside family home