On Monday, investigators revealed that the suspect who allegedly scalded a baby with a cup of boiling coffee on Aug. 27 had fled the country.

Nine-month-old Luka was with his mother on a picnic with friends in Brisbane’s Hanlon Park when a man approached the group and allegedly poured hot liquid over the baby before fleeing the scene.

Despite a manhunt, the suspect managed to leave the country before investigators were able to identify the 33-year-old alleged attacker.

AFP’s David Craig spoke to Channel 7’s Sunrise on Tuesday morning about a serious mistake he believes police made during the search.

“The description of the man was ‘well-proportioned, tanned, 30-40 years old,’ so that doesn’t narrow it down much,” Craig said.

“I think when a child is injured or there is an attempted murder, we need to pinpoint exactly who we are looking for.

“These are not racist terms. These are terms that identify a serious victim.

“He should have been identified as an Asian-looking male, like we do with Southeast Pacific Islanders, or as Caucasian-looking. In this case, that didn’t happen quickly enough.”

Mr Craig argued that making the information available to the public could assist police in their search, given that the man was clearly “avoiding electronic trails”.

On Monday, Inspector Paul Dalton said law enforcement had obtained an arrest warrant for the 33-year-old foreign national on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm.

“This is a life offence,” Det Insp Dalton said at a news conference.

He added that the man in question arrived in New South Wales by car on August 28 and left the country via Sydney Airport on August 31, with a flight booked the same day.

“We are still searching for this vehicle which we believe is in the New South Wales area. The New South Wales Police have been involved and are assisting us in trying to locate this car,” he said.

Det Insp Dalton said investigators were working with law enforcement partners overseas.

He added that police initially obtained a name that later turned out not to belong to the person investigators were looking for.

Det Insp Dalton said it had become clear the person wanted by police was “aware of police methodology” and was “conducting counter-intelligence activities”, which complicated the investigation.

“It was only on September 1 that we managed to identify the face from surveillance footage,” he said.

The nine-month-old boy underwent a series of surgeries to treat burns.