ORLANDO SENTINEL: (WARNING) Girl Outwits molester at Disney Resort

[disneyokw]

ORLANDO SENTINEL: (WARNING) "Girl Outwits Molester at Disney Resort"
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I was just checking out the website for the Orlando Sentinel and found an article about a 10 y.o. girl staying at the Dolphin who outwited a molester. This is very sad that it happens in our society, but has become so common. Please, please remind your kids to call the front desk if someone claims to be from security, housekeeping, etc. I hope you ALL have a safe trip to our favorite place. The link is:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-rape-03122001.story

 

[Kateandsam]

That is horrible, I feel awful for that poor child and her family. Call me overprotective, but I don't think I'd leave my 10 year old alone in a hotel room for the evening. But that's an entirely different topic.

 

[glo]

Kateandsam I agree with you. I feel bad for all involved, but what could they have been thinking leaving a 10 year old in the room by herself. I have a ten year old daughter, and I know that she would have opened the door to. Had a long talk with her about stuff again today.

Link toSwan and Dolphin FAQ!
<font size=3><font color=green><marquee>Co-Captain & Charter Member of the Swan/Dolphin Cheerleading Team!!</marquee></font></font>
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Next trips!
Dolphin July 2001
Swan Dec. 2001

 

[Maleficent2]

and I do feel for the child but I also think the parents should have been charged in this case for leaving her alone in the room.....what could they have been thinking.

Mal

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[EpcotMom]

I feel awful for the girl..But her parents are irresponsible. As far as charges, the State of Florida is investigating. It is a law that any crime involving a child must be investigated by DCFS aa well as police.

 

[pdzabe]

It is important to remind everyone that just because you're at WDW, that doesn't mean everyone on the premises is there for the same reasons you are. In fact, I had occasion to represent a client who had been a fugitive from justice in NJ for at least five years. Where had he been? Working at WDW! No, not a cast member but as a laborer working with water pumps on the many lagoons around the World. (he wasn't a threat to children, but has a criminal history). I'm sure WDW contracts many services to outside vendors and of course, they don't usually do background checks. The moral of the story is, don't let your guard down and take every precaution to stay safe. Thanks for bringing this article to our attention.

 

[robinb]

I have to agree about how horrible this is! I really feel sorry for the girl and her family. However, I don't think that we should be bashing the parents here. What in the world will charging the parents or reporting them to DCFS do? Don't you think they feel bad enough, or do they need to be punished more?

Would I leave a 10 year old alone in the room thinking that she would just go to sleep? Maybe. It depends on the kid. The same thing could have happend to an older girl, or even an adult since the man represented himself as "security".

It is obvious that the pervert was watching the room and moved in as soon as he was sure that the family was gone. He's the one who should be punished. Not the girl and not her family.


-- Robin

 

[MosMom]

That really freaks me out. We leave tommorrow so I hope they catch this guy or he is scared enough to stay away. It's pretty hard for a molester to target the parks so I guess it's only logical that they would start targeting resorts. Not just Disney resorts either, any resort in that area. I agree, 10 years old is too young to be left all alone but I'm not sure prosecuting the parents would do much good, it would only traumatize the girl further IMHO. She probably really needs her parents right now & taking them away would be tough. It's sad all around, it's really too bad that even DisneyWorld isn't safe anymore.



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[Maleficent2]

I am sorry o respectfully disagree with you.Being sorry does not make it right.This child should never have been left alone in the room whether it was 10 am or 10 pm makes no difference.She IS TOO YOUNG to be unsupervised.And yes I think the parents should be charged then maybe the next time they will think twice about leaving their daughter alone and maybe it waill prevent some other parent from leaving their child alone.

Now if you talk to my husband he would probably side with you.

I am not slamming you this is just my opinion.


Mal

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[robinb]

Mal,

I know you're not slamming me and I hope you don't think I'm slamming you .

I think that those parents do think twice about leaving their child alone again. It was a very frightening lesson for everyone involved. That poor girl probably has not been out of her mother's sight since the incident. They made a mistake. I'm sure they feel terrible. I still don't see what prosecuting them will do for (1) the child or (2) the parents themselves.

Would I leave my 10 year old alone in a Disney room to sleep while I went just downstairs for an hour? I don't know. My daughter is only 18 months. I guess I'll know in another 9 years.

We are all lulled into a feeling of security at WDW that can be popped like a soap bubble. The world is a nasty place and we forget about that when we're in The World. It's that kind of thinking that the man was relying on. Fortunatately, this kind of thing does not occur all the time in WDW.


-- Robin

 

[poohandwendy]

Prosecuting the parents in this situation is ridiculous, apparently their daughter was a mature young lady, and quite smart in my opinion. Anyone who hasn't walked in the shoes of her parents, has no right to lie in judgement. I have 3 children and every child has a different level of maturity at that age. My eldest daughter is 14 (has been babysitting for 2 years)and quite mature, however this situation could have happened to her as well as any kid even older and who knows what the outcome would be??? Would she be any more safe than this girl under the circumstances? Probably not, this man had a plan and was the one at fault. Now my son, at 11, is just not a super-mature 11 and is not afforded the same responsibilities that his sister was at the same age because of this. It just really depends on the child. I think that this is a perfect example of the fact that we need to talk to our kids about dangerous situations and what we would expect them to do.. WDW or at home this kindof thing does happen and should be especially talked about with our pre-teen children because they are at the age where they start to need and request a bit more responsibility. We also need to KNOW our kids and the limits of what they can handle. I am in no way saying that this girl SHOULD have been alone, only that it is really easy to say in hind-sight what should have been done.

 

[Maleficent2]

that is not my place but that of the courts.Laws are in place for that reason and we do not get to pick and chose who has to abide by them.And it does not matter how mature a child is.I am not an attorney in the state of Fl.so I do not know what their child neglect laws are.


Mal

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[Melika77]

WoW! I was shocked as I read this story. The man who molested this little girl must have been watching her.

I thought security was pretty tight at WDW. What could be done to make it better?

Melissa

 

[MosMom]

What do you think dragging the parents through a court battle & jailing them would do to the already traumatized child? She would most likely feel that it is her fault because from what I read in the article she wanted to stay home . It will take a bad situation & make it worse IMHO. Everyone makes mistakes & we've become a prosecution crazed society. You can't make a mistake anymore without either being sued or prosecuted. It's really sad. Sure, people need to be held accountable for their actions but I think sometimes the results of the accident cause one to be held accountable & it's hardly getting off free. These people have to live with this for the rest of their lives & I doubt they are taking it lightly or laughing it off. There is a grey area in most laws that criminals seem to take advantage of & innocent people seem to get nailed with. That however, is just the opinion of an uneducated housewife & we all know what opinions are like.



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<font face="verdana, arial" size="1">"They call it "PMS" because "Mad Cow Disease" was already taken" <IMG WIDTH="15" HEIGHT="15" SRC="/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif" alt="razz"></font></p>

 

[poohandwendy]

I agree w/ you MosMom, IMO the parents didn't commmit a crime, they made a mistake. It's such a shame that their daughter had to go through this kind of thing at WDW! As a parent planning a trip there, I am constantly thinking of how wonderful it will be to see my kids experience the magic of Disney. It's a shame their vacation had to be ruined this way. Hopefully, the family involved can put this behind them and they gave a lot of parents and kids something to think about.
wendy

 

[Maleficent2]

queezz why are you slamming my opinion!

that is what it is my opinion another housewife I will have you know.

I am not going to get into a battle with people on this.Ithink this is child neglect and that is my opinion.

I have said I feel for this little girl and am sorry it happened to her but she should have NEVER been left unattended.

enough said.

Mal

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