Two children were restrained with cable ties as they cried out for their mum in a distressing Facebook livestream.
The footage went live at about 2.15pm outside a Conkerberry Road home near Cable Beach in Broome, Western Australia, on Tuesday afternoon.
A six-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy could be seen outside a garage with their hands bound together.
Female family members can be heard telling the man that they are just ‘little kids’ but the man refuses to release them.
An earlier photo on social media also showed a third child, 8, tied up along with the other two.
The six-year-old girl and the seven-year-old boy were bound with cable ties at the Broome property
The man who allegedly tied up the children (pictured) has been arrested
St John Ambulance paramedics assessed the children, who have since been reunited with their family.
The livestream footage was removed by the user after it was viewed 27,000 times and shared 1,800 times.
Western Australia Police confirmed a man has since been arrested and charged. Police were initially called to the property over reports of trespassing.
‘The man, from Broome, was taken into custody, interviewed over the matter and charged,’ Western Australia Police said.
‘It is alleged the force used to restrain the children was not proportionate in the circumstances.’
The man was granted bail and is due to appear in court at a later date.
It is believed the man arrested had been working at the house for a local air-conditioning company and discovered the children swimming in a pool at the home.
The local company has since been subjected to online abuse and one-star Google ratings.
The kids were restrained for about an hour
An earlier photo on Facebook showed a third child tied up (pictured)
Witness Leandra McKenzie said the children were distressed.
‘They were frightened, they were crying, shaking and singing out for their mum,’ she said.
‘It would have been over an hour it was . . . we were yelling at him to tell them to release them . . . but he just wouldn’t give up.’
There has been growing community concerns about juvenile crime in the Kimberley.
Additional Western Australia Police officers have been sent to the state’s north to help cut youth crime, as part of Operation Regional Shield.
A new on-country juvenile detention centre has been cited as a better alternative to Perth’s Banksia Hill Detention Centre, but the project keeps getting delayed.
