Police expected to charge a man on Saturday evening following the alleged sexual assault and abduction of a young girl in Adamstown Heights on Tuesday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Police arrested a man, 47, after stopping a vehicle in Beaumont Street, Hamilton, at about 12.15pm.
He has been taken to Newcastle Police Station and is expected to face "several" charges, police said.
The man will face court on Sunday.
The arrest came after an 11-year-old girl was walking through Hudson Park in Adamstown Heights at 9.15am on Tuesday when she was allegedly approached and threatened by a man who said he had a knife.
The girl was allegedly sexually assaulted before being forced into a car and driven to bushland where she was allegedly further sexually assaulted.
She was later released, around 2.15pm, at Kotara railway station.
"This is a crime that has sent shivers down the spine of every Novocastrian, right across the Hunter and certainly right across the state," Newcastle City commander Superintendent Brett Greentree said on Saturday evening.
"On the community side of things, I really want to thank the Newcastle and Hunter community for the assistance.
"It's been tough going for the police, they've been very committed, as you would be in a crime like this."
State Crime Command Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad commander Detective Superintendent John Kerlatec said information given to investigators late Friday night led to the breakthrough police needed.
Detective Superintendent Kerlatec said identification of the man's vehicle was "one of the very key" leads that resulted in the arrest.
"This is an outstanding result, in so much as the police commitment to this crime, but also the overwhelming support we've been provided by members of the community who have provided valuable information that has assisted us in making this arrest today," he said.
"At this point we have what I would describe as overwhelming, compelling circumstantial evidence."
Newcastle businessman Ty Brennock was on his way to lunch at Hamilton's Sydney Junction Hotel about noon on Saturday when he noticed a commotion across the road.
A red Commodore was surrounded by police in a car-park off Hudson Street, near the intersection with Beaumont Street.
"Police had pulled over someone in a red Commodore," Mr Brennock said.
"Soon there was about eight police cars on the scene, some of them marked and some unmarked.
"They put the driver in a paddy wagon and drove him away.
"The also towed the Commodore away."
Mr Brennock said the man arrested had been wearing a peaked cap.
When his cap was removed, he appeared to have a "buzz cut".