Gardaí in Dublin are investigating an alleged assault on a 12-year-old girl at a plaground.
On Monday evening at around half 5 12-year-old Ellie May was out playing with friends at Windy Arbour Playground near Dundrum.
She was messing with stones and throwing pebbles down a slide before a man allegedly physically assaulted her.
Her mother Sarah Stephens says while Ellie May might have been misbehaving but it does not entitle a grown man to hurt her child:
She says the man asked her daughter if she had stones.
"He moved towards her and she went down the fireman pole and ran."
She went to run and he grabbed her by the hair backwards."
Ms Stephen's says the man "kept kicking and kicking and kicking."
Child Left Shaken From The Alleged Assault
Sarah says gardaí are now involved while Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Councilis providing CCTV footage to try and identify the man.
She says her daughter is completely shaken after the attack:
"She put her hands up against her face."
"Her right side was on the ground curled up in a ball, her whole left side is black and blue."
Since sharing the experience online to warn other parents Sarah says her daughter has been abused.
She says her daughter has been called a terrorist and part of a gang.
"[Ellie May] is not out in gangs, I actually wrap the kid in cotton balls."
Gardaí say they are investigating the alleged assault and no arrests have yet been made.
