Updated ,first published
A Perth man who was planning to kidnap a young girl and keep her as a sex slave in his attic has been jailed for seven years after police raided his home and thwarted his heinous plan.
In the months before his arrest, Jason Forbes, 39, had modified the roof space in his Baldivis home to be a soundproof “panic room”, and had blacked out the windows of his Tesla, in preparation to snatch a child off the streets.
A “mind map” diagram found on his bedroom mirror showed the electrician was planning to impersonate a police officer to abduct child, with a fake police badge found in the glove box of his car.
A photo of two children playing on a driveway two kilometres from his house was also found, with the caption “X marks the spot”.
During his sentencing in the Perth District Court last month, Judge Darren Renton SC said the photo was taken in April 2024 by Forbes during one of his reconnaissance missions looking for his “target”.
Forbes’ Google searches also showed he looked up “volunteer childcare work near me”, “rubber acoustic underlay”, “kidnapping”, “abductions”, “Baldivis volunteer”, “fake window tint screen”, “chloroform” and “knockout chemicals and gases”.
He also looked up the address of notorious American paedophile Phillip Garrido, who kidnapped an 11-year-old girl from a school bus stop in 1991 and held her captive for 18 years, with the victim giving birth to two of his children during that time.
“The web browsing searches identified … a concerning level of preparation to abduct the child for sexual purposes, including how to build a panic room in the loft,” Renton said.
“There was no timeline that indicated when you would move beyond planning to implementation, but I am satisfied that you had an intention to put the plan into effect.”
Evidence taken from his home showed Forbes had highlighted nearby kindergartens and childcare centres on a map and had researched how to approach, isolate and restrain a child.
He had also looked up “yellow safety house sign”, which is a reference to a popular safety program run in Western Australia the 1990s, which was designed to alert children to houses they could go to if they felt they were in danger.
Police were tipped off to Forbes’ plan when Australian Border Force officers intercepted a custom-made child sex doll Forbes had ordered online in July 2024.
A subsequent search of his Berryman Terrace house, where he lived alone, uncovered more than 70,000 child exploitation material files, nappies, children’s dolls and children’s underwear.
Forbes admitted to police he had a 20-year sexual interest in young female children, but denied his was planning to kidnap anyone, telling detectives it was all research for a book he was writing, and that he bought the fake police badge because he liked to dress up.
Renton dismissed his claims, saying the case against him was overwhelming.
A WA Police spokeswoman said when officers went to Forbes’ address, they found he had taken extraordinary steps towards preparing his home for potentially abducting a child.
“Police also identified structural modifications to his residence, including construction work to a roof and attic space with restricted access, which formed part of the overall assessment that the accused was actively preparing to commit physical harm,” she said.
He was charged with possessing a child-like sex doll, using a carriage service to prepare to engage in sexual activity with a child, and possessing child exploitation material and was jailed for seven years and five months.
Sex Crimes Detective Acting Superintendent David Palmer said the sentence was a win for officers.
“This investigation is a clear example of early intervention preventing harm to children. Through the identification of concerning behaviour and extensive preparatory planning, WA Police were able to disrupt the offender’s actions before any child was physically harmed,” he said.
The man’s assets, including his house, have since been frozen.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
From our partners
Read the full article here
