String of attempted child abductions across Melbourne

Police are investigating a fourth reported suspicious incident involving men in vans approaching schoolchildren across Melbourne in recent weeks. The latest incident occurred in the eastern suburb of Boronia on Tuesday morning. This follows similar incident in nearby Blackburn on November 18, another suspicious incident in the northwest suburb of Tullamarine on November 27 and a further similar incident in Doncaster on Monday. Police do not believe the four incidents are linked. About 8.30am Tuesday a boy on his way to school at Boronia Heights Primary was reportedly approached by a man in a white van. “Police are investigating after a boy was approached by a man driving a white van in Boronia on 3 December,” Victoria Police say. “The boy walked away and reported the matter to police. The investigation remains ongoing.” The day before, a teenage girl fled to a shopping centre after a similar incident. This incident happened on Saxon Street, Doncaster, about 9.30am on December 3. “She was approached by a man driving a white van. The man asked the girl to get in the van. The girl ran away to a nearby shopping centre,” Victoria Police said in a statement. One week ago a man driving a white van approached a 14-year-old girl walking in Tullamarine, and asked her where she lived and to get in his vehicle. This incident happened on Spring St on November 27. The first in this string of similar incidents happened a few suburbs away from the latest one. On November 18 another man tried to abduct an 11-year-old boy while he was walking home on Halley St in Blackburn. Victoria Police are expected to speak with media about the incidents later on Thursday.