The father of a two-year-old abducted from a Primark store by girls aged 13 and 14 said the kidnappers used candies as part of their plan to entice her away.
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The girls, 13 and 14, entered guilty pleas to taking the girl without consent from the busy store in Newcastle upon Tyne on April 13 this year.
She was later found in a park three miles away – nearly two hours later – by a police officer.
They also pleaded guilty to stealing dummies, baby bottles and milk from other stores when they appeared in North Tyneside Youth Court on Tuesday, according to the newspaper.
The teenagers were initially charged with kidnap “with the intention of committing a relevant sexual offence”.
The Guardian reports prosecutor Lee Poppett told a previous hearing the device contained several links to “African woman sexual activity”, and the kidnapped toddler was black.
The toddler was found in a park nearly 5km away, almost two hours after a massive search was launched.
Speaking as his daughter happily played around him, he said: “Her mother was on the phone and our daughter was in her pram”.
The little girl was the second child the teenagers had tried to grab from the store that day, after being unsuccessful in their first attempt.
Neither of the girls – who can not be named for legal reasons – has a criminal record.
“The safety of a lost child will always be a priority for the police but when there is a suggestion that a child may have been taken then it becomes even more imperative that we act quickly and that we do everything we can to find them”, she said.
Their victim can not be identified by the media.
Their solicitors sat in front of them, while around 12 reporters filled two rows at the back of the court.
“That is going to have to inform the assessment of dangerousness”.
The case has now been adjourned until July 4 for sentencing.
In the meantime, they were remanded into the care of the local authority.
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But District Judge Roger Elsey warned he could not ignore the serious nature of searches which were found on a tablet in the girls’ possession at the time of the kidnap.
