SANFORD — Sanford Police won’t be filing charges against the two 10-year-old girls who told a lie when they said a man tried to abduct them earlier this week.

But Police Chief Thomas Connolly said his department will review the matter with the Juvenile Community Corrections officer.

Police on Thursday said the two 10-year-old girls who reported a black man tried to abduct them Tuesday night were lying.

The police chief called the fabrication “very troubling.”

“While I understand that young children may not necessarily understand the seriousness of their actions, a case such as this may have intended and unintended consequences,” the chief said in an email to the Journal Tribune.

The girls were walking in the densely populated High Street and Bates Street area of the east side about 6:20 p.m. Tuesday, when, they later told police, a tall, black man in his 40s, who was bald and sporting a scruffy salt-and-pepper beard, tried to abduct them. They said he got out of the van he was driving and grabbed one girl by the shirt, pulling her along. But the second girl yelled, he let go, got into his van and drove away, according to the initial report from police. They said he was driving a black van with white rear doors.

Police investigated the incident Tuesday night and all day Wednesday before issuing a statement asking for the public’s help.

There were no witnesses to the incident, and there were no reports form surrounding police agencies indicating they’d spotted the van.

Then, on Thursday afternoon, after a follow-up investigation, the girls admitted the story was a fabrication.

The chief late Thursday outlined two possible consequences: “First, any time an actual or attempted child abduction occurs, the community becomes rightfully upset. How many parents became paranoid, or how many children were afraid when this incident became known? Second, anytime you accuse someone of a serious crime, especially when you identify the suspect as a minority, or a member of another nationality or ethnic group, you automatically make everyone in that group a potential target. Maine is hardly a highly diverse state population-wise.

“What could have happened if someone saw a tall, bald, black male driving a black van in this area in the hours or days after this incident was reported? At the very least, an innocent person could have been detained ”“ or worse.”

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.