Australian man who ‘restrained Indigenous children with cable ties for entering pool’ charged with assault

A man in Western Australia has been charged with aggravated assault after he allegedly used cable ties to restrain three Aboriginal children.

A Facebook Live video of the incident that happened in Broome on Tuesday sparked outrage among the community.

The 45-year-old man tied the three children at the garage of his home in Cable Beach after finding them swimming on his father’s vacant property.

Police were called to the home at about 2.15pm on Tuesday 5 March for a reported trespassing incident. They found a six-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy tied up, WA Police said.

They later located a third child, an eight-year-old boy, who was also restrained but managed to escape before the police arrived.

A distressing video going viral on social media showed two Indigenous children, a girl and a boy, standing in the garage with their hands restrained together with a single tie.

The video appeared to be filmed by one of the members of the public who pressured the man to release the children who were seen crying.

However, the children remained restrained despite the pleas of the bystanders.

WA police acting assistant commissioner Rod Wilde said the actions of the 45-year-old man were not appropriate.

“There is a power under that [Criminal Investigations Act] to make a citizen’s arrest where people can be restrained. There are some conditions around that … the police have to be advised forthwith and attend and take over,” he said.

“Whatever force you apply to arrest someone needs to be reasonable, given the age of the person involved, the vulnerability, and all of those things that be taken into account by the court.

“In this case, it’s the basis of the charges that it’s disproportionate to what is reasonable in the circumstances.”

The incident has sparked a backlash from among the members of the community who said that the incident was “hateful” and “racist”.

“This is AUSTRALIA.!!!!! Racism at it’s best...!!! What gives this white adult man the right (employee at Roebuck Airconditioning & Refrigeration) to hold captive, 3 young aboriginal children AGANIST their will!! Cable tie their hands together, keep them sitting on the ground!! Wouldn’t know what he said to these very young kids, they are clearly very scared,” Facebook user Crystal Dann Rigney said.

Another person, Daniel Hawken, said the three young children were tied together in “40 degree heat in Broome” and called on the authorities to charge the man with child abuse and kidnapping.

Jacqueline McGowan-Jones, the state’s children commissioner, said she was disturbed by the treatment of very young children by the man.

“It would appear these are very young and small children. They appear to be quite frightened in the circumstances. He is quite a large man. And they appear to be very nervous,” Ms McGowan-Jones told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday.

“They don’t have the neurodevelopment to understand cause and effect and consequences and actions. And that is legally known,” she added.

The man was taken into custody but was released on bail, WA Police assistant commissioner Wilde said.

“Police continue to work closely with the affected families and acknowledge the challenging circumstances surrounding this incident,” he added.

The man is due to appear before the Broome Magistrates Court on 25 March.