Thieving parents use child decoys

Jane Emerick
Adults are using children as young as five to shoplift in Geelong, according to traders.
Several businesses contacted the Independent this week with complaints of parents using their children as distractions so they could steal.
John Naskovski, manager of a sports store on Moorabool Street, said he caught a mum shoplifting with her daughter last week.
“They came in and the little girl started pulling the arms of the mannikins. I asked what she was doing and she told me her mum told her to do it,” Mr Naskovski said.
“Right away I started thinking the mum nicked something. When she left I asked her whether I could check her bags and she told me to get f***ked.
“I told her she couldn’t leave and I had to drag her back into the shop. She was about a size 26 but I grabbed her around the waste and brought her back in.
“I found my tops in her bags. She begged me not to call the police because she said she just got out of jail.
“The little kid was crying, it was terrible.”
Mr Naskovski said he did not call the police because he felt sorry for the child, whom he estimated as six or seven years old.
Little Malop Street store owner Anna, who did not want her surname published for fear of retribution from thieves, said a father-and-daughter team had stolen from her shop this week.
Anna said the girl, who was about five years old, entered her shop and went to the back of the aisles while her father stole from racks outside.
“The little girl was gorgeous and new exactly what she was doing,” Anna said.
“She walked in the shop with a little purse over her shoulder and while I was distracted her father stole from outside.
“As they were walking away I saw him pull the bright-coloured jumpers out from under his jacket.”
Another gift shop owner, Kalina, who also did not want her surname published, had also experienced adults using children to aid their thievery.
“We caught a woman who was shoplifting with her little girl, using her daughter as a distraction,” Kalina said.
“Parents will also use prams to hide things under their children.”
Kalina believed that the use of children in thefts had increased over the past year.
She said police would be permanently stationed in her store if she reported every theft.
“Shoplifting is a daily thing for us,” Kalina said.
“Thieves are not as fearful any more, they just grab and run. It’s not uncommon to have a parent shoplifting with their children.”
Jewellery-seller Alex Salta reported similar thefts from Geelong markets.
He said parents would often use children to create diversions while targeting his stall.
Geelong Police Chief Inspector Wayne Carson denied the use of children in shoplifting was a significant problem in the city.