An 18-year-old from Everett, Ont., faces charges of kidnapping, sexual assault and threatening to kill a 9-year-old Brampton boy who was abducted on his way to school.
School officials notified the child's parents after he failed to show up at school; the parents then called police.
When the boy arrived home, he told his parents he had been grabbed, taken to a home, held for six hours and molested, said police.
They would not say where the abduction occurred, but said the attacker dropped the boy off in the area where he had abducted him.
Lucas Petrini, 18, is charged with kidnapping, uttering a death threat, assault, sexual assault, exposure to a person under 16 years old, sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching and possession of a weapon.
While Peel police were announcing that arrest, their Toronto counterparts were searching for a man who tried to abduct an 11-year-old girl in the Beach area.
The girl told police a man grabbed her from behind around 1 p.m. as she was walking along Beech Ave. north of Queen St. E. on her way to Balmy Beach Community School, said Toronto police Const. Wendy Drummond.
She was able to break free after biting the suspect's hand. She ran to school to tell officials, who alerted police.
He was last seen getting into a dark green older model van, possibly a Dodge Caravan, that had a dent on the passenger-side door. It had been frequenting the neighbourhood for days, said police.
The only description of the suspect is that he is white, medium height and build, and was wearing dark clothing, a dark ski mask and dark sunglasses.
Both police forces are asking parents to talk with their children about being vigilant.
Peel Const. Samantha Nulle said, if possible, parents should try to walk their children to and from school or bus stops. Otherwise, she said children should walk with a buddy.
