EDMONTON — RCMP in St. Albert are reminding parents to talk to their children about strangers after a seven-year-old girl was approached by a suspicious man earlier this week.
Officers said the girl was walking home from the park at Vital Grandin School around 11 a.m. on Tuesday when she was approached by a man driving a silver, four-door car. The man reportedly asked the girl if she needed a ride
RCMP said the young girl knew not to get into the vehicle, and immediately ran home to tell an adult.
The suspect is described as a Caucasian man between the ages of 30 and 40. He had short brown hair, a brown beard and tattoos on his forearms.
Officers are using this incident to remind parents and caregivers to talk to their children about the following:
- To know their full name, age, telephone number, area code, city and province.
- How to contact you, or another close relative in an emergency.
- How to contact a trusted neighbour, police, fire or ambulance services (911) and when to make these calls.
- When children are home alone they should not answer the phone unless they know who is calling or tell phone callers that you are there, but you are busy and cannot come to the phone
- When children are home alone, find out the identity of the person who comes to the door, without opening the door. If a stranger is at the door, teach your children to tell the stranger that you are busy, and he/she should go away and come back later. Teach your child not to engage in conversation with the visitor. If the child feels threatened, teach him to phone an emergency number.
- Where possible, your children should play and walk with other children.
- Your children should always ask your permission before accepting gifts from strangers.
- To avoid situations where strangers may approach your child alone, such as an unsupervised play area, empty lots, abandoned buildings, and/or bushy area of parks et al.
- To run home or to the nearest public place, or a Block Parent home, if someone is following or frightening your child.
- If someone follows your child in a car, they should turn around and get away. Run home or to a Block Parent home or the nearest public place such as a school, store, or office. Your child should also try to remember what the driver and car looked like or its license number.
- That adults, especially strangers, rarely ask children for help in finding things, or for directions. Explain to your child that both men and women are strangers.
- If your child becomes separated from you in a store or shopping mall, to go directly to a store employee or cashier for help.
- That police officers who wear uniforms are their friends and that they can be trusted if your child is in trouble. It is for this reason that you should never use the police as a threat to your child. This will confuse their image of the police.
Anyone with information about the incident in St. Albert is asked to contact RCMP at 780-458-7700.