Recent child-luring incidents cause alarm in North Bay
Two recent incidents of adults trying to lure children have North Bay and area parents and caregivers on edge.
Ontario Provincial Police are looking into one incident at a school bus stop on Highway 94 at an East Ferris bus stop where a man approached a child waiting for the bus. He encouraged the child to get into his car.
Meanwhile, North Bay police are trying to find two suspects who approached a nine-year-old playing at Thompson Park.
The two suspects asked the child to leave with them in their vehicle. Both times police were notified and suspect descriptions were released. Neither of the children were harmed.
Grandfather Renzo Silveri often rollerblades with his grandson Easton in Thompson Park. He was shocked to hear it happened in the park where he spends time with his grandson.
"An adult tries to take advantage of a child? That's a very scary situation," Silveri said.
Diane Philbin, who takes her grandchildren to play in the park, said she finds the situation "disturbing."
"I'm very concerned. I find it very upsetting," Philbin said.
"Parks are meant to be safe."
North Bay police are advising parents and guardians to have a difficult conversation with their children about strangers.
"Parents need to remain vigilant as they do at all times especially when they do with young children," said Insp. Jeff Warner.
“We're asking anybody who may have been in the area of Fisher Street and Thompson Park who may have dash cam video of someone leaving the park that matches the description.”
Jesse Reid, autism services facilitator at One Kids Place, encourages parents to teach their kids the difference between 'safe strangers' -- police, firefighters, security guards and store clerks -- and 'unsafe strangers' who present a danger.
"We try and talk to parents about not having identifiable information on children's clothing or their backpacks or coats,” Reid said.
“It makes it easier for someone unknown to that child to approach them and say ‘Hey so and so, your parents told me to pick you up.’"
Reid said parents and guardians should have predetermined meeting spots in the event they become separated from each other.
“It’s one thing to tell our children don’t talk to strangers and don’t get into an unknown vehicle,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Freddie Mercury's home is on the market for first time since 1980 minus his 'exquisite clutter'
Freddie Mercury's sanctuary in London, where he lived the last decade of his life, is on sale for the first time in nearly half a century -- minus his "exquisite clutter."
'The lost season': Winter comes to a close as Canada's warmest on record
The warmest winter on record could have far-reaching effects on everything from wildfire season to erosion, climatologists say, while offering a preview of what the season could resemble in the not-so-distant future unless steps are taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions.