Mum issues warning after woman ‘follows and grabs’ her three-year-old son in Chesterfield park

Roseleen Finneran, 27, was at Eastwood Park, just off Top Road, in Calow, with her three-year-old son and daughter, aged one, on Tuesday, June 8, when the incident occurred.

Roseleen said two women aged between 40 and 50 entered the park around 1pm and started using the playing equipment near to her son.

One of the women then began to follow the three-year-old and grabbed him twice before police were called.

Roseleen, from Hadey Hill, explained: “Two women came on the park and started playing on the seesaw. I thought they were a bit old to be playing on the park but thought I’d mind my own business.

"They carried on and then one of them decided to walk over to my son near the slide and she started following him. Then, as he went to come down the slide, she grabbed hold of his hands.

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"He came running over to me and dropped his hat on the way over. The same woman picked up his hat and my little boy instinctively went to take it from her.

“That’s when she put her arms around him to pick him up but he pushed her off and said ‘stop get off me’ and struggled then got to me. It was very shocking to see.”

While reporting the incident to police, Roseleen says the women then proceeded to lift her dress up to ‘have a wee’ in the middle of the park before the pair walked off.

It is reported that officers later advised the woman not to touch other people’s children.

Roseleen said: “It’s very frustrating. Everybody knows that you don’t touch other people’s children, that’s just a bit of common sense. I thought that police might ask the women some questions or want a statement from me or something.

"Even just lifting your dress in the middle of the park and having a wee, surely that’s indecent exposure. That’s why I’ve decided to share it so people know. If police aren’t going to do anything about it then at least people know and they’re going to be more aware.”

Roseleen credits Marsden Martial Arts in Whittington Moor, where her son attends, for giving him the skills and confidence needed to get away from the woman.

Issuing a warning for parents to remain vigilant, she said the woman who grabbed her son was Asian, quite tall, wore a straw hat with multicoloured flowers on the trim, a long bright maxi dress, bright pink socks with sandals.

The other woman was dressed in black with a black straw hat on.

Roseleen added: “Please be cautious in parks especially on nice days when they are busy.”

Derbyshire Constabulary said the woman ‘engaged’ with the child and did not commit any criminal offences.

A spokesperson for Derbyshire Constabulary added: “We were called at 1.10pm on June 8 by a mother who was concerned about the way a woman at Eastwood Park, Calow, was acting toward her young child.

"Officers found the woman, who was in the area on holiday, and spoke to her about her behaviour. We called the child's mother back to update her.”

The Derbyshire Times has asked the police for a response regarding the woman urinating in public.

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