KISKIMINETAS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A local mom says she no longer feels safe in her own home after a man allegedly tried to lure her 4-year-old son from her front yard and into his car.
Kiski Township police say Walter Mitchell pulled up to several yards in the area, asking kids to get inside.
Channel 11 spoke with one mom who says he tried to lure her son.
She doesn’t want to show her name because she is still shaken up.
“To lose that security in your home…I don’t even want to be here anymore,” she said.
She doesn’t feel safe in her own home after police say Mitchell pulled up to her front yard and started yelling at her 4-year-old son.
“I asked him to repeat himself, and he said, ‘Oh, I told him I’ll give him a dollar if he came over to my car, get in, and we can play trucks,” the mother said.
The mom told Mitchell to leave. That’s when police say Mitchell started to cry and told her, “I can’t help myself. I like little boys.”
“I grabbed him and ran…I didn’t know what else to do!” the mother said.
Mitchell stayed outside of the home for several minutes before police say he went to other yards and asked even more children to get into his black Jeep. Now neighbors in Pine Valley Estates say they are on edge.
“People are strange nowadays. You’ve got to watch your kids. I have two nieces and I’d be scared to death if someone would do something like that to them,” neighbor Barbara McCullough said.
The mom said she’s always told her son he could not walk past the edge of her car bumper. She believes that rule kept distance between her son and Mitchell.
“He stayed where he was supposed to, thank goodness. Just put boundaries! It might be repetitive, but it’s going to help you in the long run. If you have to keep saying it, ‘Don’t go past here. Don’t go past here.’ Do what you’ve got to do. Your kids’ safety is worth the aggravation of having to repeat yourself,” the mother said.
Mitchell is now facing charges for attempting to lure a child into a vehicle and is also facing separate charges for harassment and public intoxication.
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