Police are investigating a report of a person taking photos of a child in a public toilet at Queanbeyan.

About 4.15pm yesterday (Tuesday 31 March 2015), a six-year-old girl entered the toilets at a shopping centre on Monaro Street.

The child has told police she saw a hand with a mobile phone emerge from under the wall of the adjacent cubicle and take a photo.

The person in the neighbouring cubicle did not touch or speak to the child.

The girl immediately left the toilet and told her mother, who contacted security at the shopping centre.

On their return to the toilets with security personnel, the cubicles were empty.

The girl’s parents contacted police, and the matter is now under investigation by officers from Monaro Local Area Command.

Police are urging anyone with information in relation to this incident to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page: https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au/ Information you provide will be treated in the strictest of confidence. We remind people they should not report crime information via our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Meanwhile, the incident has again prompted police to encourage parents to discuss the ‘Safe People, Safe Places’ messages with their children, including:
– Make sure your parents or another adult you know knows where you are at all times.
– Always walk straight home or to the place you are walking to. Walk near busier roads and streets, or use paths where there are lots of other people.
– Know where safe places are – a shop, service station, police station, library or school. If you are ever frightened, you should go to one of these places and ask them to call the police.
– Learn about safe adults you can look for and talk to if you need help – police officers, teachers at school, adults you know and trust.
– Don’t talk to people you don’t know and never get into a car with someone you don’t know. If a car stops on the side of the road and you don’t know the person inside, do not stop.
– If you are scared and can use a phone, call 000 and tell them you are scared.
– If someone tries to grab you, yell out, ‘Go away, I don’t know you’. This lets other people know you have been approached by someone you don’t know.