Former security guard Mohammed Al Bayati, sentenced for kidnapping and touching a toddler at DFO Homebush. Photo / Ten News
Former security guard Mohammed Al Bayati, sentenced for kidnapping and touching a toddler at DFO Homebush. Photo / Ten News
For the third year in a row, the parents of murdered boy Daniel Morcombe will run Australia's biggest child safety lesson, hoping to help other kids avoid dangerous strangers.
Speaking to Sunrise this morning, Daniel's parents Denise and Bruce launched Child Protection Week and said their videos would "make childrensafe".
"Child Protection Week is a national strategy to make sure child protection is front and centre right around the country and as part of that, the Daniel Morcombe Foundation is launching Australia's biggest child safety lesson," Mr Morcombe said.
"It's very much focused and targeted at protecting our kids. It has important and key messaging there in the lively, very modern delivery technique and we know primary-school aged kids will benefit from this and the underlying factor is, it will make children safe."
Last month, a security guard working at a Sydney shopping centre was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail after he calmly snatched a three-year-old girl and indecently assaulted her, news.com.au reports.
Mohammad Al Bayati was found guilty of kidnapping her from the Homebush DFO playground and leading her into the stairwell where he exposed his penis and touched the girl's underwear, a week before Christmas in 2016.
Eleven minutes later, he walked the girl back to the playground and berated her mother for leaving her unattended.
Police only became involved after the girl told her father later that day the guard showed her his "needle" and "tried to kiss my bum bum".
Former security guard Mohammed Al Bayati, sentenced for kidnapping and touching a toddler at DFO Homebush. Photo / Ten News
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said last week Al Bayati would be deported back to Iraq after serving his jail sentence.
Bruce and Denise Morcombe were questioned this morning how parents could talk to their kids and make sure a situation like the Homebush DFO one wouldn't happen to their own children.
"It's a difficult thing but sometimes you just have to break it down into common sense and honest parenting," Mr Morcombe said.
"The parents need to be observant, they need to trust their instincts and they need to report any time they feel something is a little suspicious or something is not quite right but please sit down with your kids, maybe at the dinner table or on the lounge, and have a chat with them about personal safety.
"So recognising personal danger, knowing how to react — so get to a safe place or scream or yell, 'I need help', but most importantly and the interesting thing about this particular case is, that child did the right thing.
"She reported what had happened to her and without that knowledge coming forward, clearly their situation would be very, very different."
Daniel Morcombe was abducted from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland in December 2003 by convicted sex offender Brett Cowan.
Daniel was 13 when he was kidnapped by Cowan and had been waiting at a bus stop to go and buy Christmas presents for his family.
Daniel's mum Denise also called on parents to watch their kids to avoid a situation like Homebush DFO.
"I think the parents also need to be observant and watch the children as well," Mrs Morcombe added.
National Child Protection Week runs from September 1 to 7 and parents can access the "Keeping Kids Safe" resources on the Daniel Morcombe Foundation page.
The launch of Australia's third child protection week comes after research, published yesterday, revealed two-thirds of parents fail to secure their devices with passwords, and 55 per cent allow their children unsupervised access online.
The survey of 2000 Australians over the age of 18, commissioned by child abuse prevention agency Act for Kids, also found two-thirds of parents to children under 12 feel they need more education on how to protect children from accessing inappropriate content.
Sex abuse educator Miranda Bain told AAP there's a gap in awareness and knowledge among parents and educators who give children phones and other technology.
Unsupervised access could mean anything from handing a toddler or child a phone while you shower, to hours of time alone with a device.
"It's important we make the link between locking the back door and locking the phone or other smart devices," said the Act for Kids Program Manager. Anything with a Wi-Fi connection presents a danger, Ms Bain said.
One client, a teenage girl, managed to post on Twitter via a smart fridge after her parents had taken away the phone, she said.
Children, and their predators, are often more savvy than parents and every device — from baby monitor to smartphone — needs to be secured, she added.
Child protection expert and Bravehearts founder Hetty Johnston says offenders are chasing children through a dangerous online playground.
"Stranger danger is back," she said.
"We are handing children devices loaded with porn. An offender may as well be sitting on the bed next to them, meanwhile we are sitting on the lounge watching television."
Many parents think their child is smart enough to avoid the bad content, or they are safe on kid-friendly apps, she said.
