Man held over attempted abduction

A 42- YEAR-OLD man has been arrested by gardaí investigating the attempted abduction of a teenage girl a week ago.

A man driving a white van pulled up next to the girl as she played on her bike outside her house in Moyclare, near Ferbane in Co Offaly, on July 19.

The 13-year-old chatted to the man before he tried to pull her into the small van. She escaped after the brief struggle.

It is understood the teenager sustained minor injuries and shock before escaping to raise the alarm at a neighbour’s house. It is believed a piece of the girl’s clothing was torn off in the incident.

The suspect was arrested in the Tramore area of Co Waterford.

He is being held at Tullamore Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.

In the wake of the attack gardaí have warned the public to be vigilant, especially because school holidays are on.

A large local Garda team has been working on the case, assisted by the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Unit.

“Parents are advised that the gardaí are concerned about what happened near Ferbane and they should be aware of their children’s whereabouts at all times,” said Superintendent Dave Kavanagh.

The mother of the girl spoke earlier about her daughter’s escape.

“My daughter was attacked and I would say to locals to be very careful. There are a lot of children from around here and it is very distressing for something like this to happen.

I don’t want to talk about it too much at this stage, because of the family.”