Attempted kidnapping of 9-year-old under investigation in Lexington

EDITOR'S NOTE — March 22, 2024: Police now say the incident was not an attempted child abduction. An earlier version of this story follows.

Police in Lexington, Massachusetts, are investigating a report that a masked man tried to grab a 9-year-old girl who was playing in a backyard Thursday afternoon.

The child said she was playing in the backyard on Wood Street when someone grabbed her from behind and put a hand over their mouth.She free and ran away for help. It happened around 2 p.m., according to police.

“My daughter told me that he grabbed her from behind,” said the girl’s mom. “That he put his mouth over her mouth so she couldn’t scream.”

The mother was in tears Thursday night as she spoke about what her daughter says happened outside their home.

“My daughter was able to kick him in his genital area and she was able to get away,” the mother said.

The 9-year-old girl was playing with her little sister outside their home along with a boy next door when she heard a noise in the woods behind the house and was curious to check it out.

As she looked around, the stranger grabbed her from behind.

“For me to know there’s a man behind my house that just makes me feel very unsafe just being home in general,” said the mother. “I’m a single mom of three.”

The girl fought back, got away, ran inside her home, and called her mom who was at work.

“My daughter was in karate so she hit him pretty hard,” said the mom. “When she looked back, he was holding himself and she just ran.”

Lexington police and the school district have alerted families about what happened.

“Going to go back home and tell the kids,” said Jessica Holt-Carr, who lives on Wood Street. “Remind them about these types of situations and how they happen everywhere.”

The man was wearing a ski mask, black gloves and all black clothes.

The 9-year-old’s mom is thankful her daughter was able to escape.

“Nobody will ever understand how proud I am today of my daughter,” she said. “She’s autistic so she wasn’t able to give the police a full detail, she wasn’t able to express herself the way she wanted to.”

Police are asking people in the neighborhood if they saw anything out of the ordinary early Thursday afternoon to give them a call with any helpful information to help track down the suspect. 

Anyone who may have seen something unusual in the area or with any additional information is asked to call Lexington police.

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