Man helping child now portrayed as kidnapper

A man trying to help a lost toddler find her parents was misidentified as a kidnapper on social media over the weekend, according to police in Lakeland, Florida, prompting him to leave town in fear for his safety.

The whole episode prompted the Lakeland Police Department to warn citizens to “be careful about what you post on social media so as not to victimize an innocent person. … Before posting information on matters such as this, we encourage people to identify the source and the validity of such claims before sharing them.”

Lakeland police, in a Facebook post, said the falsely accused man was visiting friends at a softball game when he noticed a 2-year-old had gotten separated from her parents. “The citizen attempted to ask the girl where her parents were and walked with her in hopes she could point them out,” the statement said.

Police said after “bystanders” told the parents that the man was “attempting to kidnap the child,” the child’s father punched the man five or six times. The child’s father told local reporters that he “thought he was trying to take my daughter” and “wanted to kill him.”

Police concluded the man was only trying to help, saying, “This incident truly involved a good Samaritan trying to assist a lost child finding” her parents.

The father and his friends were not satisfied. “So, I guess in Lakeland, you can kidnap a child and get away with it,” the father said to police, local media reported.

According to WFLA, other media outlets and police, family members and friends went on social media and shared the man’s photo, his Facebook page and his place of business, “calling him a child predator.”

The man told several local outlets that he has now left town with his family for their safety. He said he will not press charges against the father.

The father made no apologies for his actions but told The Post, “All that matters is that my daughter is home safely.”