Police fear child abductor could strike again soon

Police fear a man who abducted and indecently assaulted a 5-year-old girl near Christchurch could strike again.

The man lured the half-dressed girl away while she was playing on a bouncy castle at Ruapuna Raceway during a drag-race meeting on Sunday afternoon.

Her father was nearby but did not see the man approach her.

The abductor drove the girl away and touched her inappropriately, Detective Sergeant Will McIvor said.

She was later found walking alone a few kilometres away in Templeton, on the outskirts of Christchurch, and was taken to Rolleston police station.

She had an orange stain on her skirt, where a liquid had spilled on her, but had suffered no obvious physical trauma.

Mr McIvor said there was an urgent need to catch the man in case he tried to take another child.

"If he has done it once, it is a definite concern."

The girl's father, David (his surname cannot be printed for legal reasons), said yesterday that he was still in shock over the abduction.

"I'm totally dumbfounded that she could be taken from right under my eyes," he said.

As soon as she was noticed missing, David knew something was wrong.

"The other kids came up and she wasn't with them. I just knew in my heart she wasn't on the premises any more."

He began his own search with some friends at the raceway to no avail, and then police were called.

Mr McIvor said it was not clear why the man had dropped off the girl after taking her away in his car.

"He may have been scared off or come to his senses, or he may have thought someone saw him, or he was disturbed."

David said his daughter was coping well in the circumstances.

She was wearing a white ankle-length cotton skirt with cotton lace trim when she was abducted. She was not wearing shoes or a top.

The man who took her is described as European, aged in his late 40s or 50s, of thin build, about 172cm tall, with short dark-coloured hair. He had round-rimmed prescription glasses and wore a red T-shirt and blue jeans.

The man was believed to be driving a dark-coloured, two-door older model of vehicle with brown and white-striped material seats or seat covers. Many items were stacked on the back seat.

- NZPA