LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — A day of fun at a lazy river pool turned into a nightmare for a child. Now a man from Rhode Island is facing molestation charges.
Investigators say a 12-year-old girl was allegedly molested by a stranger at a Lake Buena Vista resort, and there may be more victims.
Orange County deputies say it all went down at Club Wyndham Bonnet Creek’s lazy river pool on Sunday and Monday.
Deputies arrested 72-year-old William Chatel on a charge of lewd or lascivious molestation.
He made his first court appearance Tuesday, where the judge assigned a public defender to his case.
According to the arrest report, the victim was swimming in the pool when Chatel touched her.
She tried to avoid him, but according to the report, he approached her again the next day. That’s when she started crying, so her parents called authorities and took videos of him.
According to the girl’s mother, Chatel groped her daughter and tickled her underwater.
The videos showed the man approach other female children in the lazy river pool, mostly while alone.
The victim told deputies she saw another girl being touched by the same man, but deputies weren’t able to locate the other child or her parents.
Deputies say Chatel told them his wife was upstairs in their room and that he didn’t remember touching or running into anyone in the pool.
He is being held in the Orange County jail.
Resort visitors and parents said they found the allegations disturbing. One parent, Shaundirec Shine, said, “I think it’s horrible that someone would do that to a child... You think that when you go somewhere that your children will be safe, especially if you’re around.”
“That’s not something you come on vacation to experience, so that’s disheartening to hear,” said Melisha Wilson, another parent.
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