Kansas babysitter begged by child to check for monster under the bed… and finds one

It’s cliche to say that a news story sounds like something out of a horror movie. But, well, this news story really feels like something out of a horror movie! On Mar. 24, a young babysitter in Great Bend was winding down for the night as the children in her care were finally getting sleepy.

As she was tucking them into bed, one of them nervously asked if the babysitter could check under the bed, as there was a “monster” hiding underneath it. Doubtless rolling her eyes a little, she bent down to check. It’s silly, but if it’ll help the kid sleep, so what?

We can only imagine her reaction when, as she peered down, she came nose-to-nose with a violent criminal. Silently hiding under the bed was Martin Villalobos Junior, a former resident of the property on the run from sheriff’s deputies in the area. Panicking and needing a place to hide from cops, he’d apparently broken back into his old house and scuttled underneath a bed.

Chaos erupted as the babysitter panicked, resulting in a struggle with the suspect in which one of the children was knocked to the floor. Villalobos then fled the scene on foot, being spotted the next morning. After a short foot chase, he was captured and dragged to Barton County Jail, where he was charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary, aggravated battery, child endangerment, felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer, and violation of a protection from abuse order.

That’s the story as per the official police report, though perusing the comments indicates that they might have left out one key detail. According to several responses, Villalobos is the children’s father and is involved in some kind of child custody dispute, with their mother alleged to have a drug problem.

That said, one comment from someone who apparently knows Villalobos personally describing him as a “great person and wonderful father” seems a little much, with replies pointing out that a “wonderful father” doesn’t usually hide out under his children’s beds while on the run from the cops “like a creep”.

But, however this pans out, just remember that you shouldn’t dismiss scared children as making stuff up. Because sometimes – not often – but sometimes, there really is a monster under the bed. Let’s just hope this poor babysitter got a large tip at the end of the night, as this is one job she’s unlikely to forget in a hurry.