By Paul Robinson
A 24-year-old central Queensland man has been charged with child abduction after allegedly snatching a 12-year-old girl from her bed in Gladstone.
The man, who police said is not known to the girl, was arrested after police spent much of yesterday searching for the attacker.
Police said the girl was sleeping at her house at Seaview Heights in Gladstone at about 1:00am on Sunday when a man grabbed her and dragged her outside.
Detective Inspector Darrin Shadlow said the 12-year-old was yelling and screaming and her grandfather ran out of the home to come to her aid.
“Thankfully the screams of that young girl and two of her friends who were also with her at the time have alerted the young girl’s grandfather who has come out into the backyard and the male offender has taken off,” Inspector Shadlow said.
He said the girl suffered cuts and abrasions in the attack.
Several officers, including members of the dog squad, conducted a large-scale search of the local area.
“Within a number of hours we had a person of interest who we attempted to locate at a residence, however that male person decamped from police.”
The search then continued for several more hours until, just after 8:00pm on Sunday, they arrested a man in the backyard of a house.
The man is due to face the Gladstone Magistrates Court today on five charges including child abduction, indecent treatment of a child and assault.
This story originally appeared on ABC News.
© 2016 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. Read theABC Disclaimer here.