A baby stroller is seen as mothers play with their children at a public area in downtown Shanghai November 19, 2013.
A baby stroller is seen as mothers play with their children at a public area in downtown Shanghai November 19, 2013. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

A 20-year-old deaf man in New Zealand has admitted to the kidnapping and sexual assault of a 6-year-old girl on New Year's Day. Tim Horne, from Auckland, entered a guilty plea before the Waitakere District Court.

The young girl had been playing in Auckland's Glendene Reserve with other children in the park when Mr Horne approached them around 8:20 pm on Jan 1. He then began dancing with the children and offered them chewing gum. He grabbed the girl when he noticed the other children were moving away from him.

Mr Horne brought her further into the park and proceeded to sexually assault her. According to the police, the young girl had scratches from the assault and received hospital treatment. The police report said the assault on the 6-year-old girl was interrupted when the girl's mother responded to her child's screams.

Police reports also said the suspect removed the girl's clothes when they were on the creek bed and began to "inappropriately touch her." Mr Horne tried to stop the girl from screaming, but her mother had already heard her and rushed to her aid. He ran off and left the child in distress.

Mr Horne was tracked down after the police enlisted the help of the public to give information about the girl's attacker. The court did not grant bail to Mr Home and ordered him to appear in May for the sentencing.

MSN reported that since the Mr Horne was deaf, he needed the assistance of sign language interpreters for the court hearing.

Mr Horne's father, a schoolteacher, had initially provided the court with an affidavit to keep his son's name a secret from the public. However, Judge Heemi Taumaunu ruled that the consequences of revealing the name did not constitute "extreme hardship" to the father and Mr Horne's siblings.