Revealed: How girl, 12, left her friends at Westfield to meet a man, 37, accused of taking her to a property and sexually abusing her while her frantic loved ones searched for her for 11 hours
- A 12-year-old girl was reported missing after being seen with a strange man
- Police allege the girl met him at a skate park in Thornleigh on Tuesday afternoon
- Police launched a frantic search and allegedly found her at man's Dural home
- She had been missing for around 11 hours when detectives finally found her
A man has been arrested for allegedly taking a 12-year-old girl to a property and sexually abusing her while her frantic loved ones searched for her for 11 hours.
Police allege the 37-year-old left the Thornleigh Skate Park in north-west Sydney with the girl on Tuesday afternoon.
She was reported missing at 5.30pm after she failed to meet her parents at Hornsby Westfield.
Detectives eventually arrested a 37-year-old man at a house in Dural just after 1.15am on Wednesday morning.
Police allege she left friends at the Westfield earlier in the afternoon to meet the man and a young child at the park, meaning she was missing for around 11 hours.
The 12-year-old girl had been at Thornleigh's skate park (pictured) when she went missing on Tuesday afternoon
'We will allege that once they left in the car and went to a home at Dural, she was sexually assaulted,' child abuse and sex crimes squad detective superintendent John Kerlatec said on Wednesday.
He said police believed the 12-year-old left with the man 'thinking she was in the care and custody of somebody she felt safe with'.
Det sup Kerlatec said the family of the pre-teen girl were 'distraught'.
Police allege the young girl was found in the home and was taken to hospital for assessment.
Child abuse and sex crimes squad detective superintendent John Kerlatec said on Wednesday the family of the young girl were 'distraught'
A crime scene was established at the home and a vehicle was seized a short distance away, which will be forensically examined.
The man was taken to Hornsby Police Station, where charges are expected to be laid.
The other child remains in the care of family.
The search was conducted by detectives from the State Crime Command’s Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad, with assistance from Kuring-Gai Police Area Command.
The man was taken to Hornsby Police Station (pictured), where charges are expected to be laid
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