A babysitter in Kansas made a shocking discovery while attempting to prove to one of the children she was looking after that there wasn’t a “monster” hiding underneath the bed.

The babysitter said one of the children had complained of a “monster” under its bed, the Barton County Sheriff’s Office said.

Thinking the child was just experiencing the usual fears kids do, the babysitter checked under the bed to reassure the baby but, as she looked under the bed to ensure there were no monsters haunting the room, she came face-to-face with a man. The woman then got into an “altercation” with the man, which saw one of the children knocked over before the man fled the scene.

Police arrived at the home at around 10:30pm on Monday following reports of a disturbance.

A manhunt was launched after the suspect was identified as Martin Villalobos Jr., 27, who used to live in the house. He had previously been ordered to stay away from the property under a domestic abuse order, police confirmed.

Villalobos avoided police for the rest of the night but was spotted the next morning and captured after a brief pursuit and taken to Barton County Jail on requested charges of aggravated kidnaping, aggravated burglary, aggravated battery, child endangerment, felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer and violation of a protection from abuse order.