DVC owner allegedly inappropriately touching characters

[Pooh12863]

You regularly grope them?

Not likely, but now I won’t put myself in the position to be accused of it either. Look at this thread, while two different accusations of incidence doesn’t look good, y’all have throw presumption of innocence out the window.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Note to self: No more character interactions.

You regularly grope them?

I agree with Pooh.... Keep hands, and any body part, far away from any person, not just characters.
I practice this at my job as well. I do nothing that can be slightly interpreted as unwanted touching. No longer will I put a friendly hand on the shoulder. It’s a shame things are this toxic, but better safe than sorry.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Not likely, but now I won’t put myself in the position to be accused of it either. Look at this thread, while two different accusations of incidence doesn’t look good, y’all have throw presumption of innocence out the window.

Precisely

 

[Pooh12863]

I agree with Pooh.... Keep hands, and any body part, far away from any person, not just characters.
I practice this at my job as well. I do nothing that can be slightly interpreted as unwanted touching. No longer will I put a friendly hand on the shoulder. It’s a shame things are this toxic, but better safe than sorry.

I’ve worked construction in schools around children for 35 years, I’m a cautious man.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

It seems to be the world we live in today, guilty until proven innocent. This could be another example of "fake news"; if the person did the deed then he should pay the price but until it is proven beyond a shadow of doubt this person should be given the benefit of doubt.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Not likely, but now I won’t put myself in the position to be accused of it either. Look at this thread, while two different accusations of incidence doesn’t look good, y’all have throw presumption of innocence out the window.

The presumption of innocence is a trial presumption. It's not a social norm presumption. You make decisions in your life every single day without giving a presumption of innocence.

 

[crvetter]

It seems to be the world we live in today, guilty until proven innocent. This could be another example of "fake news"; if the person did the deed then he should pay the price but until it is proven beyond a shadow of doubt this person should be given the benefit of doubt.

I don't disagree someone is innocent until proven guilty, legally speaking, though doesn't apply to Disney banning him. However, I suspect Disney had evidence to act the way they did to ban him for a year. I would assume since it is a character encounter there was a PhotoPass photographer so I'm sure Disney has some level of confidence in their CM's account of the story. Personally if I was accused once by one CM of inappropriate behavior then accused again by another CM I would have to think my behavior is the issue (there wasn't a conspiracy against this individual). In sexual harassment/assault cases it's not about how the two involved viewed the situation happened its all about how "reasonable person" would take the gestures (this is a hypothetical person and doesn't really exist but that's what the courts argue over).

It's also important to remember the accuser should be afforded as much benefit as the accused is afforded in an assault case (specifically a sexual harassment/assault that may or may not happened here). Society for a long long time didn't afford the accuser any real benefit and may have over corrected for a very brief period of time but I believe we are working towards the best we can as a society; though public persecution is another issue to be tackled. Though no one knows his name publicly and he chose on his own free will to do the interview with a newspaper, so he is afforded some level of protection from public persecution.

 

[POOH&PIGLET]

It seems to be the world we live in today, guilty until proven innocent. This could be another example of "fake news"; if the person did the deed then he should pay the price but until it is proven beyond a shadow of doubt this person should be given the benefit of doubt.

If the burden of proof in our criminal justice system was proof beyond a shadow of a doubt, almost nobody would EVER be proven guilty. Our criminal justice system has a high burden of proof, namely beyond a reasonable doubt.

If a woman says she was sexually abused by someone and that very same "alleged" abuser is involved in another incident of inappropriate behavior THE NEXT DAY, only a naive person will give him the "benefit of the doubt."

As for your suggestion that in our society someone is guilty until proven innocent, I'll refer you to the following article (one of many that I can find) entitled, "Less than 1% of rapes lead to felony convictions. At least 89% of victims face emotional and physical consequences." https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...victims-face-emotional-physical-consequences/

Disney gives people permanent bans for many types of bad/criminal behavior.
Disney doesn't seem to value it's employees enough to issue a permanent ban for repeated abuse of its own cast members. ☹

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

If the burden of proof in our criminal justice system was proof beyond a shadow of a doubt, almost nobody would EVER be proven guilty. Our criminal justice system has a high burden of proof, namely beyond a reasonable doubt.

If a woman says she was sexually abused by someone and that very same "alleged" abuser is involved in another incident of inappropriate behavior THE NEXT DAY, only a naive person will give him the "benefit of the doubt."

As for your suggestion that in our society someone is guilty until proven innocent, I'll refer you to the following article (one of many that I can find) entitled, "Less than 1% of rapes lead to felony convictions. At least 89% of victims face emotional and physical consequences." https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...victims-face-emotional-physical-consequences/

Disney gives people permanent bans for many types of bad/criminal behavior.
Disney doesn't seem to value it's employees enough to issue a permanent ban for repeated abuse of its own cast members. ☹

Wait, he wasn’t permanently banned?

 

[POOH&PIGLET]

Wait, he wasn’t permanently banned?

1-year ban.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

1-year ban.

Wow, I missed that. That’s crazy.

 

[chicagoshannon]

Been a lot of false accusations going around the last few years. I think it best to reserve judgement until he's proven guilty.

 

[DizDaD7]

Someone dropped the ball here.....

1 Year ban? Seems to me that This might not be the last we hear of this guy.

What is one year going to do....Me says..Nada!!!! Provided the info is 100% ACCURATE, that is!

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

There’s a difference between requiring proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to take somebody’s liberty away and requiring it to ban them from a children’s amusement park. Disney should really err on the side of a ban here.

 

[MomOfDisneyPrincess]

Just a thought . . I wonder if Disney might limit character interactions to kids 12 and under in order to cut out a lot of this behavior.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Just a thought . . I wonder if Disney might limit character interactions to kids 12 and under in order to cut out a lot of this behavior.

Out of curiosity, what is a character interaction like when you’ve got no children and you’re meeting one of the talking princesses? Do they talk to you in character? I’ve only done it with my children. I guess I could see people doing it if there was no line to have a fun picture but I feel like talking to an in-character disney princess without kids would be a little awkward.

 

[POOH&PIGLET]

Been a lot of false accusations going around the last few years.

That's an unfortunate, commonly believed myth.

The incidence of false allegations of sexual abuse is about the same as an other crime (which is low).

 

[Chuck S]

Just a thought . . I wonder if Disney might limit character interactions to kids 12 and under in order to cut out a lot of this behavior.

I hope not. I had an elder friend (she has since passed) that had limited short term memory, and took photos of everything...basically her photos were her memories, and she loved taking photos with the characters.

And while character interaction really isn't my thing, unexpected interaction can be part of the Magic of Disney...for instance, years ago I was at a mall in San Antonio when Mickey and MInnie happened to be making an appearance. Mom and I were regular shoppers at the Disney Store there, and apparently they recognized us. Minnie was on her way to a backstage area, away from the store, and made a special detour to give us two adults a surprise hug. It was special. But I really never wait in queue for character meet and greets, unless a child is with me.

 

[starry_solo]

Out of curiosity, what is a character interaction like when you’ve got no children and you’re meeting one of the talking princesses? Do they talk to you in character? I’ve only done it with my children. I guess I could see people doing it if there was no line to have a fun picture but I feel like talking to an in-character disney princess without kids would be a little awkward.

Just talk to them. Ask how they are. They ask where you're from. Typically my friends and I wear Disney shirts when we meet with characters

 

[DuskKodesh]

Out of curiosity, what is a character interaction like when you’ve got no children and you’re meeting one of the talking princesses? Do they talk to you in character? I’ve only done it with my children. I guess I could see people doing it if there was no line to have a fun picture but I feel like talking to an in-character disney princess without kids would be a little awkward.

They are in character and it's like well... meeting the character. I spent my entire last trip tracking down characters to interact with even though I don't have kids and none of the meets were awkward except maybe the talking Mickey but that was because timing. I talked about cooking with Tiana, painting with Rapunzel. Told Gaston to treat Lefou nicer because he was a good friend, and Joy stole my school bread I had in a to-go container then tried to put it in memory storage. I had to tell her I hadn't eaten it so it wasn't a memory yet! XD
It's just playing, it's fun even as an adult. (Never stop playing, it's good for you.) I'd be very sad if Disney did away with it due to cases like the ones in this topic.