I am posting this thread because I believe a number of us have small children, and we also have lots of local attractions we take them to. Please be very cautious of your kids. Walt Disney World is known for its amazing security system, so if it can happen there it can happen anywhere! This story can be found at:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/loc … 9276.story

Man arrested at Disney water park on molestation charge denied bond
Walt Disney World Resort
Fingers Walter Pacheco
Sentinel Staff Writer
1:56 PM EDT, July 17, 2009
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The increasing number of sexual-related incidents involving children at local water parks is a troubling trend for the theme park-friendly region.

In just four months, more than a dozen children at Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach and Aquatica reported they were molested or exposed to another person's sexual organs.

One 14-year-old girl told investigators she was raped during a nighttime celebration at Wet 'n Wild.

Deputies said the latest incident happened Thursday at Walt Disney World's Typhoon Lagoon. Although investigators are charging Amazon.com employee David Eugene Thomas with molesting a 13-year-old boy, they think Thomas victimized more than six children.

The alleged molestation is the third sexual-related incident at Typhoon Lagoon this month. Thomas is being held without bond at the Orange County Jail.

A Disney spokeswoman said the three incidents at Typhoon Lagoon this month are not unique to that theme park.

"This is a broader societal issue," Disney's Andrea Finger said. "We're focused on identifying inappropriate behavior and reporting that to law-enforcement."

Finger would not discuss possible changes to security measures or increased surveillance since the reported incidents. "We're not able to share the details of those security measures because we don't want to compromise their effectiveness," she said.

Experts said the frequency of reports is troubling, especially for an area known for family entertainment and water theme parks.

"In four years, I can't recall a particular geographic region reporting so many [sexual-related incidents] in such a short time span," said Aleatha Ezra, spokeswoman for the World Waterpark Association.

Ezra said her organization will hold its annual conference at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in October and one of the issues on their agenda is improving the partnership with law-enforcement to keep predators out of water parks.

"This is something we have been discussing for the last several years and was on our agenda before the incidents reported in Orlando," Ezra said.

Nick Gollattscheck of Aquatica said Orange County sheriff's deputies spent Tuesday and Wednesday at the water park reviewing security procedures and measures with staff.

Joshua Fuentes, of Kissimmee, faces charges of battery and lewd and lascivious molestation after three girls, ages, 12, 13 and 14, accused him of touching them at Aquatica on June 27.

Gollattscheck would not discuss details of the visit, but said sheriff's deputies were there to "let us know if there's anything we could be doing better than we already are."

Deputies said Thomas, the suspect in the latest incident at Typhoon Lagoon, is visiting Orlando from Mountlake Terrace, Wash. with a 15-year-old boy. The teenager told investigators Thomas had sexually molested him in the past, Sgt. Rich Mankewich of the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.

Mankewich said Friday that Thomas is facing an additional count of sexual battery on a child because of his molestation of the boy, who is now in the custody of the Department of Children and Families and will be returned to his mother.

"There are some concerns about how [Thomas] gained custody of this teenager," DCF spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner said. "Investigators already have spoken to the child's mother and she indicated she wanted custody of her child."

She added, in an email, that DCF has "been in communication with our counterparts in the State of Washington and understand there is some history with the family there that we need to explore further."

Reports show the teenager's mother allowed her son to live with Thomas, a family friend, for a year because he was doing poorly in school.

"He had been grooming this child for the past five years," said Mankewich.

Thomas admitted to touching boys at Typhoon Lagoon as an "experiment" because he was "curious." He offered to write letters of apology to the children he is accused of molesting.

Thomas also told investigators he was a victim of molestation when he was child.

Meanwhile, detectives are working other sexual-related cases at area water parks.

Investigators charged Bradford Biggers on July 11 with exposing himself to a 14-year-old girl at Typhoon Lagoon. He was released on bond.

On July 3, deputies said Robert Double molested several young girls at Typhoon Lagoon. Double left the jail after posting his bond.

A 14-year-old girl told deputies a man raped her at Universal's Wet 'n Wild during a midnight celebration. Orlando Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Barbara Jones said they have no leads in the case.

In March, a man is accused of fondling himself in front of various guests at Disney's Blizzard Beach.

Anika Myers Palm of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2009, Orlando Sentinel