An tradesman who restrained three Aboriginal children with cable ties and threatened to ‘hit them with a big stick’ has been arrested after a clip of the incident was shared on social media.
Shocking footage livestreamed to Facebook showed how Matej Radelic used plastic ties to bind the wrists of a girl aged just six years old with two boys aged seven and eight, outside a home in Broome, Western Australia, on Tuesday afternoon.
Harrowing images shared on the social media platform showed the kids, whose arms were all bound together, sobbing as they were forced to sit on the concrete by a furious Radelic in a sweltering 33 degrees Celsius.
The tradesman, who oversees an air conditioning installation company, had allegedly caught the kids swimming in an outdoor pool at his parents’ unoccupied house, which had been put up for sale.
The 45-year-old was charged with three counts of aggravated assault by Western Australia Police on Wednesday and will appear in court to face the charges on March 25.
Meanwhile, his company’s website has been taken offline after it was bombarded by one-star Google reviews from social media users sickened by the video.
An photo on Facebook showed three children tied up and bound together with plastic ties
Matej Radelic has been charged with three accounts of assault
The children were ultimately freed by police officers who descended on the scene, and were later assessed by St John Ambulance paramedics
The incident was filmed by a relative of the little girl and the seven-year-old boy and livestreamed on Facebook.
She implored Radelic to free the children, but the tradie refused and said he would hold them until police arrived, pushing her away as he did so.
The relative said the children knew it was wrong to enter the property but said they were ‘just kids’ and were trying to cool down on a hot day.
Recounting the ordeal to the West Australian newspaper earlier today, the relative said: ‘When we tried to walk in there to get them he pushed me and my mum out of the yard.
‘When we pulled up there, and when that man was pushing me out of the gate… the little (eight-year-old) boy snapped the cable ties with his hands and then he just jumped over the fence and ran down the road.
‘It was just upsetting, we were so angry with (the tradie) just shouting at him, telling him to let them go but he just didn’t want to listen to us.’
The relative added one of the restrained kids claimed their captor told them he was going to ‘hit them with a big stick’.
In the video footage, Radelic can be heard complaining to the person recording him as he sought to justify his actions.
‘They are on my property,’ he raged.
‘It’s not the first time – six times [this has happened].’
The children were ultimately freed by police officers who descended on the scene, and were later assessed by St John Ambulance paramedics before being reunited with their family.
Radelic meanwhile was promptly arrested and hauled in for questioning.
Witness Leandra McKenzie said the children were in a clear state of distress.
‘They were frightened, they were crying, shaking and singing out for their mum,’ she said.
‘It would have been over an hour… we were yelling at him to tell them to release them but he just wouldn’t give up.’
Western Australia (WA) Commissioner for Children and Young People Jacqueline McGowan-Jones said she was ‘appalled’ at the footage.
‘It would appear these are very young and small children. They appear to be quite frightened in the circumstances. He is quite a large man. And they appear to be very nervous,’ she told ABC Radio Perth.
‘These children are only six and seven. They don’t have the neurodevelopment to understand cause and effect and consequences and actions. And that is legally known.’
WA Greens senator and former police officer, Dorinda Cox, said the footage was disturbing and confronting.
‘We can never be OK with watching children as young as six being humiliated, their tiny wrists being tied up and leaving them crying in the hot sun,’ she said.
‘As a mother, watching these children begging for their freedom and in fear was like watching a slow repeat of the historical racially based abuse experienced by previous generations of First Nations people.’
The six-year-old girl and the seven-year-old boy were bound with cable ties at the Broome property on Tuesday afternoon
In the video footage, Radelic can be heard complaining to the person recording him as he sought to justify his actions
The tradie who allegedly tied up the children (pictured) has been arrested
Acting Assistant Police Commissioner Rod Wilde said Radelic’s use of force against the children was disproportionate.
‘Children under 10 are not going to be criminally responsible,’ he said.
‘We’re engaging with the children’s parents… They’re certainly keen for the court process to run its course.’
Wilde said police were initially contacted at 1:35pm on Tuesday by a neighbour who noticed the children swimming in an ‘unoccupied’ pool.
‘About 10 minutes later police received a call from a male person who [allegedly] said he had restrained three children for causing damage in that backyard,’ Assistant Commissioner Wilde said.
‘Police attended and located two children at that time – one had left – who had [allegedly] been cable tied at that premises.’
Police alleged a fourth boy had also been in the pool but managed to flee and alert family members to what was going on, prompting the young girl’s relative to confront Radelic outside the property.
In the wake of the incident, a spokesperson for local Aboriginal title group Nyamba Buru Yawuru called for Broome’s residents and service providers to show support for the children involved and their families.
‘Yawuru and our community are really concerned for these children,’ Taliah Payne said.
‘Our hope for the future is that we as a community come together and make sure Broome is a safe place for all of our children.’
