Perth Man Jailed for Attic Kidnap Plot

Perth Man Jailed for Seven Years Over Heinous Child Kidnapping Plot

A chilling plan to abduct a young girl and hold her captive as a sex slave in a specially prepared attic has been thwarted by Western Australian Police, leading to the seven-year imprisonment of 39-year-old Jason Forbes. The electrician’s elaborate preparations, which included modifying his home and conducting extensive reconnaissance, were uncovered during a police raid on his Baldivis residence.

For months leading up to his arrest, Forbes had been meticulously transforming the roof space of his home into a soundproof “panic room.” This clandestine space, intended for his victim, featured soundproofing materials and blacked-out windows. His vehicle, a Tesla, was also modified with darkened windows, further indicating his intent to snatch a child off the streets unnoticed.

The extent of Forbes’ disturbing intentions was laid bare by a “mind map” discovered on his bedroom mirror. This diagram revealed his intention to impersonate a police officer to carry out the abduction. The presence of a fake police badge found in his car’s glove box corroborated this aspect of his plan.

Further evidence of his sinister intent emerged in the form of a photograph found at his home. The image depicted two children playing on a driveway located just two kilometres from Forbes’ house, ominously captioned “X marks the spot.” During Forbes’ sentencing in the Perth District Court, Judge Darren Renton SC noted that this photograph was taken by Forbes in April 2024, during one of his reconnaissance missions to identify a potential victim.

Forbes’ digital footprint painted a disturbing picture of his preparations. His Google search history revealed a deep dive into various concerning topics, including:

• “volunteer childcare work near me”
• “rubber acoustic underlay”
• “kidnapping”
• “abductions”
• “Baldivis volunteer”
• “fake window tint screen”
• “chloroform”
• “knockout chemicals and gases”

His online research also extended to the address of Phillip Garrido, a notorious American paedophile who held an 11-year-old girl captive for 18 years after abducting her from a school bus stop in 1991. The victim tragically gave birth to two of Garrido’s children during her captivity.

Judge Renton highlighted the alarming level of preparation evident in Forbes’ web browsing. “The web browsing searches identified… a concerning level of preparation to abduct the child for sexual purposes, including how to build a panic room in the loft,” he stated. While Forbes had not set a definitive timeline for implementing his plan, the judge was satisfied that he harboured a firm intention to carry out his horrific scheme.

Evidence meticulously gathered from Forbes’ residence revealed that he had marked nearby kindergartens and childcare centres on a map. He had also researched methods for approaching, isolating, and restraining a child. Intriguingly, his searches included “yellow safety house sign,” a reference to a well-known safety program from the 1990s in Western Australia designed to direct children in danger to safe houses.

The breakthrough in the investigation came when Australian Border Force officers intercepted a custom-made child sex doll that Forbes had ordered online in July 2024. This interception triggered a subsequent police raid on his Berryman Terrace home, where he resided alone. The search yielded an astonishing cache of over 70,000 child exploitation material files, along with nappies, children’s dolls, and children’s underwear.

Confronted by police, Forbes admitted to having a 20-year sexual interest in young female children. However, he denied any intention to kidnap, claiming his actions were merely research for a book he was writing and that he had purchased the fake police badge for dress-up purposes. These claims were dismissed by Judge Renton, who deemed the evidence against Forbes overwhelming.

A spokesperson for WA Police confirmed the extensive measures Forbes had taken to prepare his home for the abduction. “Police also identified structural modifications to his residence, including construction work to a roof and attic space with restricted access, which formed part of the overall assessment that the accused was actively preparing to commit physical harm,” she stated.

Forbes was ultimately charged with possessing a child-like sex doll, using a carriage service to prepare to engage in sexual activity with a child, and possessing child exploitation material. He received a sentence of seven years and five months imprisonment.

Acting Superintendent David Palmer of the Sex Crimes Squad hailed the sentence as a significant success for law enforcement. “This investigation is a clear example of early intervention preventing harm to children. Through the identification of concerning behaviour and extensive preparatory planning, WA Police were able to disrupt the offender’s actions before any child was physically harmed,” he remarked.

In a further measure, the man’s assets, including his house, have been frozen.