A Facebook live stream showed two children tied with zip ties and crying for their mother, before a man was arrested.
The footage was broadcast around 2.15pm outside a house on Conkerberry Road near Cable Beach in Broome, Western Australia, on Tuesday afternoon.
A six-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy were seen outside a garage with their hands tied.
Female family members can be heard telling the man that they are just “little girls,” but the man refuses to release them.
An earlier photo on social media also showed a third child tied up along with the other two.
Six-year-old girl and seven-year-old boy tied up with zip ties at Broome property
The man who allegedly tied up the children (pictured) has been arrested
Officers were called to the property for reports of a break-in.
St John Ambulance paramedics assessed the children who have since been reunited with their families.
The user removed the footage from the live stream after it had been viewed 27,000 times and shared 1,800 times.
A WA Police spokesperson said the incident had been a “confrontation” and confirmed a man had been detained.
A Western Australian police spokesperson said Western Australia Officers are working with the families and want community members to allow police to “fully investigate the matter.”
The arrested man is believed to have been working at the home for a local air conditioning company and discovered the children swimming in a pool at the home.
The local business has since been subject to online abuse and one-star ratings on Google.
The children were restrained for approximately an hour.
An earlier photo on Facebook showed a third boy tied up (pictured)
Witness Leandra McKenzie said The children were distraught.
“They were scared, they were crying, they were shaking and they were singing for their mother,” he said.
‘It would have been more than an hour. . . We yelled at him to tell them to let them go. . . but he just didn’t give up.
There has been growing community concern about youth crime in the Kimberley.
Additional Western Australian police officers have been deployed to the state’s north to help reduce youth crime, as part of Operation Regional Shield.
A new youth detention center in the country has been cited as a better alternative to Perth’s Banksia Hill Detention Centre, but the project continues to be delayed.
