A Moroccan man twice snatched a two-year-old girl on a beach in Ibiza after kissing her on the cheek before being arrested by an off-duty cop who heard the child’s mother screaming.
It was gathered that the suspect made two attempts at taking the girl after kissing her on the cheek on Wednesday July 19, at Talamanca Beach.
Detectives said the suspect resisted arrest before he was finally detained.
A spokesman for the National Police in the Balearic Islands said: ‘Officers have arrested a Moroccan man as the suspected author of a crime of unlawful detention, sexual assault, resisting arrest and disobedience after he tried to take a two-year-old girl on a beach in Ibiza who he kissed on the face.
Saying the incident occurred last Wednesday at 12.30pm, he added: ‘The man, without apparent motive, grabbed hold of the girl and started kissing her on the cheek and stopping her from escaping.
‘At that moment the girl’s mum grabbed hold of her daughter and freed her from the man’s grip.
She went to another spot on the beach which was a fair distance from where they had been sitting and the man came up to them and grabbed hold of the girl again and went into the sea with her.
‘The youngster’s mum started yelling because the man was ignoring her and wouldn’t let go of her daughter.
‘At that point an off-duty police officer who was on the beach and heard the mum’s screams came to help and managed to reunite the mum with her daughter.
‘He ordered the man to move away several times but the man adopted a violent attitude and threw himself on the off-duty police officer who had to retain him until more police help arrived.
‘The suspect was arrested for alleged unlawful detention of a minor as well as for crimes of sexual assault, resistance, and disobedience.’
It was not immediately clear today if he has already appeared before a judge and been bailed or remanded in custody.
