A babysitter in Kansas looking under a bed to assuage a child’s worries about a “monster” instead found a man who had been banned from the home under a protection from abuse order.

The sitter was putting children to bed Monday night at a residence near Great Bend, Kansas, when one of her young charges told her there was a “monster” under their bed, the Barton County Sheriff’s Office explained Wednesday on Facebook.

Expecting to find nothing, the babysitter was instead met face to face with Martin Villalobos Jr., 27, who used to live at the house but had been banned under a protection from abuse order.

He got into a brief altercation with the babysitter, who has not been named publicly, before fleeing.

Mr. Villalobos managed to avoid detectives on Monday night, but was spotted by deputies on the same block as the house on Tuesday. After a brief pursuit, he was caught and jailed.

He was booked on requested charges of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery, aggravated burglary, child endangerment, felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer and violation of a protection from abuse order.

The sheriff’s office said the suspect used to live at the home but did not specify his exact relationship to the children or the home’s other residents.

Mr. Villalobos is being held in lieu of a $500,000 bond.

In addition, he is also facing pending charges of criminal threatening and domestic battery for a Jan. 31 incident and another violation of a protective order charge for a Feb. 22 incident, according to court records cited by KAKE-TV.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.