One child’s common bedtime fear of a monster became a reality when a Kansas babysitter came face-to-face with a grown man hiding underneath the bed.
On Monday night, a Kansas woman was putting the children she babysat to bed around 10:30 p.m. when one child “complained there was a ‘monster’ under their bed,” according to authorities.
“When the victim attempted to show the child there was nothing under the bed, she came face-to-face with a male suspect who was hiding there,” the Barton County Sheriff’s Office said. “An altercation ensued with the babysitter and one child was knocked over in the struggle. The suspect then fled the scene before deputies arrived.”
Deputies were dispatched to the home and searched the area for the suspect but were unable to locate him.
On Tuesday, police spotted the man and he attempted to flee from law enforcement but was arrested after being chased by deputies on foot.
The man, identified as Martin Villalobos Jr., 27, “once lived at the residence but there was currently a protection from abuse order issued against him to stay away from the property,” according to police.
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Villalobos was arrested and transported to Barton County Jail, where he is being held in custody on US$500,000 bail.
He was booked on requested charges of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary, aggravated battery, child endangerment, felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer and violation of a protection from abuse order.
This isn’t the first time something like this has happened in the United States.
In August 2022, a then-25-year-old man faced felony charges after he was found hiding under a seven-year-old’s bed in Morgan County, Utah, according to ABC4 Utah.
When a Morgan County sheriff’s deputy arrived at the scene, they found the homeowner in a physical fight with the suspect, identified as Garrett Brent Henstra Bills.
The homeowner told police he found Bills, who was wearing “all black clothing with a shirt tied as a mask on his face,” hiding under his daughter’s bed.
Detectives learned that Bills had allegedly entered the girl’s room multiple times over the course of three weeks and hid under her bed.
After his arrest, authorities learned that Bills was alleged to have inappropriately touched the child during one of the three times he entered the home, according to NBC affiliate KSL.
Bills was charged with aggravated burglary, burglary of a dwelling and aggravated sex abuse of a child.
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