EDITORIAL: Be alert and be vigilant

WODONGA police are investigating possible links between two other unsolved abduction attempts in the city following an apparent sexually motivated attack on a teenager.

A Wodonga girl, 15, was released from hospital yesterday morning after Monday’s daylight attack when a man tried to kidnap her and hit her over the head several times with an unknown object.

The girl was walking home from school along Lawrence Street, opposite Kelly Park about 3.40pm, when she went to the aid of an elderly man.

He had appeared to stumble before asking the girl to help him get to his car.

Police said it was the girl’s quick-thinking that allowed her to get away after the man tricked her into reaching inside the late-model black sedan.

Victoria Police Detective Sen-Sgt Kevin Coughlan said the victim was traumatised.

“She has been extremely traumatised and shocked by it,” he said.

“She has received some bruising and swelling.”

Sen-Sgt Coughlan said the offender attacked her from behind and pushed her into the car.

“It was physical force at first and then he has produced an unknown implement to hit her over the head,” he said.

“If it wasn’t for her quick-thinking and her rapid movement of getting out of that car, the circumstances may have been different.”

Schools have been put on alert and a special sex crimes unit from Melbourne has arrived on the Border.

Police are following leads and have released an image of the man, described as being aged 50 to 60, with a pot belly and balding with grey hair on the sides.

Police initially reported talking to witnesses who had believed the assault was a domestic dispute between a parent and child.

But Sen-Sgt Coughlan said police had talked to the girl and confirmed it was a random attack.

“It’s a stranger, totally unknown to the young girl,” he said.

“It’s a serious, serious problem for Wodonga at this point of time.”

The incident follows two other unsolved cases in the area in the past 12 months.

In May, a man tried to grab a 13-year-old girl in an attempted abduction outside a dance school on Melbourne Road.

Then, in August, a 13-year-old girl was walking home along Baranduda Boulevard when a man tried to coax her into his car.

Sen-Sgt Coughlan said schools had been informed and staff, parents and students have been told to keep a look out for the man.

“We have concerns about his man and where he may be and what his intentions are,” he said.

“As a matter of course, a number of similar incidents are being reviewed as part of our investigation process.”