Secret Service apprehend toddler who breached White House security by crawling through fence onto lawn

Pint-sized trespasser slips through gap in fence triggering security system

A US Secret Service uniformed division police officer carries a child that climbed through the bars of the White House fence on 18 April 2023 (EPA)

An intrepid toddler became the smallest White House intruder ever apprehended after he squeezed through the metal fencing on the north side of the executive mansion.

US Secret Service Uniformed Division officers, who are responsible for security at the White House, nabbed the errant infant on Tuesday afternoon.

Pictures show the child’s feet dangling as a smiling officer carried the diapered interloper back to his parents on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Access to the complex was briefly restricted while officers conducted the reunification. President Joe Biden was inside the complex.

Officers questioned the trespasser’s parents before allowing them to continue on their way.

White House toddler apprehended (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

It may be the first successful intrusion onto the complex since the White House fence was doubled in height to roughly 13 feet (3.96m) in recent years after a series of security breaches.

While the new $64m fence may be taller, it also has an additional inch of space between pickets, leaving a total of 5.5 inches (12.7cm) between posts.

The Secret Service did not immediately comment on the incident when approached by the Associated Press but later Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi reported officers “encountered a curious young visitor”.

A father retrieves his son from a US Secret Service uniformed division police officers outside the Northwest Gate of the White House (EPA)

“The White House security systems instantly triggered Secret Service officers and the toddler and parents were quickly reunited,” Mr Guglielmi said in a statement reported by the BBC.

This is not the first time a toddler has made it through the fence. In 2014 “fence baby” was also caught uninvited on the lawn, according to USA Today.

Older children have sometimes become stuck in the iconic barrier, which has also been the scene of demonstrations, with protesters chaining themselves to the fence.

With reporting by the Associated Press