By SCOTT INGLIS
A man who snatched a Hastings schoolgirl off the street and tried to sexually molest her could be the predator stalking youngsters 20km away in Napier.
Detectives investigating the attacks yesterday compared notes and said that while there was no evidence the cases were linked, they could not rule it out.
In Hastings, the 12-year-old girl told police a man abducted her off the street, tied her up, took her to a house and later tried to take her clothes off behind public toilets.
Police said they were alarmed at the attack and were appealing for public help.
The girl's ordeal began about 3 pm as she walked along Hastings St on her way home from school.
The man grabbed her from behind and bundled her into a red car, possibly a hatchback, and tied her hands with string or similar twine.
He then drove her to the house and put her in a windowless room.
The man left for about three hours, then returned, put her back in the car and drove her to public toilets on the corner of Russell and Eastbourne Sts.
He forced her around the back and began trying to remove her jersey as night fell, but a noise disturbed him and he ran off.
The girl walked, crying, to a nearby shop and raised the alarm.
The man is described as a Pakeha, aged 20-30, skinny, possibly 183cm tall, wearing dark clothing and a beanie.
Detective John Nicholls, of Hastings CIB, said the attack could have been a lot worse.
The girl was shaken and, ironically, had just finished a number of stranger-danger lessons at school.
Her principal said the school had written to other parents outlining the steps it had taken in educating students about safety following the attack.
It was a matter of balancing that against instilling fear into the students.
Police said that in the Napier attacks, a man in a red van had, on three occasions this month, followed youngsters who were delivering pamphlets and asked them to get into his vehicle.
Napier police have alerted schools in the Maraenui suburb, where the attacks happened.
Hastings ordeal may link to Napier stalker
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