A Chandler father is credited with stopping a convicted sex offender who entered the victim's home and tied up one of his children, according to officials.
"I feel really uncomfortable and afraid," the dad of two told ABC15. "This man could have done something bad to my kids."
Court records show around 5 p.m. on June 26, the Chandler man went to the grocery store to get food, leaving his 10-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son home.
Shortly after he left, police say 54-year-old George Tracy Vann, a man released from prison on April 6 following sex assault charges, came to the family's door.
The daughter unlocked the door, and Vann reportedly asked if 'Mary' lived there, and if the girl's parents were home.
When he was told no, Vann left for a time, but then returned and walked in the door. Records show Vann ordered the boy to lay on a bed, where Vann tied the child's hands behind his back with his sister's pants. He then ordered the girl into another room but she refused to go.
Police say, it was then that the father returned and knocked on the door. For some reason, Vann answered the door and told the father that the kids let him in as he pushed his way past the father and ran.
"I don't understand how a man like that can be out on the streets," the boy's father said. "It's very, very hard to sleep now. Very scary."
The father chased after him, catching him briefly as Vann told him he was, "looking for a a friend named Mary."
After police arrived, Vann returned to the apartment complex riding on a bicycle. The father spotted Vann and alerted police, who caught him. Police say they also found a backpack in the apartment with papers inside identifying Vann.
Vann has been charged with two counts of kidnapping and aggravated assault on minors, as well as burglary and unlawful imprisonment.
Sgt. Daniel Mejia, a spokesman for the Chandler Police Department said there's a lesson every parent could learn from this.
"Just another lesson for our parents to be educating their children, no matter how old they are," Mejia said. "Teach your kids not to answer the door, especially if you step out for a moment. Educate them about the dangers out there. Make sure they don't open the door for anyone unless it's them, there's a hundred percent certainty it's the parents knocking on the door."
He added that children should never tell anyone that they are at home alone.
