Man Arrested for Allegedly Groping a Face Character in WDW

[erasure fan1]

Wow. That’s a crazy level of judgment right there. I didn’t realize that if I stood in line to meet Mary Poppins I would be labeled as such by someone who knows absolutely nothing about me.

Right. All of a sudden I feel I did something wrong because I went to get my photo with Jango Fett by myself during star wars weekend. Man, shame on me I guess.

 

[Yankee Mouse]

You say you "have ways" as if it takes a particular skill to not touch somebody inappropriately. If you're a normal person, the "way" is not to touch people without consent. If you are a TSA officer you can touch anywhere you want as long as it is with the back of your hand because that makes it no longer inappropriate.

Obvious typo.

 

[Dutch Inn '76]

That’s called rape. No joke.

Huh? He didn't rape her; right there while everyone was in line...

It's not funny. I didn't say it was funny. I said that the dude probably thought it was funny. Someone said "poor impulse control." Exactly.

 

[Dutch Inn '76]

Your entire post is disgraceful. “How weird is that?” Touching someone without their permission is not WEIRD. “In the name of humor” and a “bad joke” is not what molesting a young woman is called. And there is never a GOOD time to assault someone, not now, not ever. Omg, you paid no attention to the affect that action had on the CM. NOTHING about this interaction was funny nor humorous but it WAS a crime and I hope this pervert is prosecuted to the fullest. People like you are a huge part of the problem. Disgusting!

LOL. You assume a lot by my simple statement.

I didn't say it was funny. I said that this guy probably thought it was, thus why he did it. Very poor judgement on his part.

 

[Tom P.]

LOL. You assume a lot by my simple statement.

I didn't say it was funny. I said that this guy probably thought it was, thus why he did it. Very poor judgement on his part.

I will ask this again... on what basis do you reach your judgment that the guy probably thought it was funny, and that's why he did it? I see nothing in the news reports to suggest that.

 

[Kamikaze]

Battery and assault are almost always separate charges (and torts) -- battery involves actual physical contact and assault does not.

Depends on the jurisdiction.

 

[The_Jobu]

he kept pinching my bum while they were taking photos

Pretty sure that's an upcharge

 

[Janir]

If it is true, then he needs to do time.

I have always kept my hands to myself unless the character says to do something or moves my hands or arms. But then again I was raised correctly.

Exactly. I've done a fair number of character meet n greets as an adult and at no time does it even cross my mind that initiating any touching of ANY character is appropriate, face, princess or otherwise. Heck if were doing a princess meet and greet picture the most I'll offer is my arm like a gentleman to not make it awkward for the cast member.
How this guy's wife didn't just clock him right then and there is beyond me. Groping some other woman right there while you're getting a picture taken?

 

[Janir]

The article says he is facing "battery charges." I think battery and assault in Florida are different charges.

Battery is the actual contact with another person.
Assault is the "threatening action" of a battery.

Someone punches you while you see it coming, that's assault and battery. Same person punches you from behind and you didn't see if coming, that's just battery.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

How this guy's wife didn't just clock him right then and there is beyond me. Groping some other woman right there while you're getting a picture taken?

Maybe he's done it before and she just puts up with his behaviour, or is equally deranged and thinks it's funny?

That she was there and did nothing suggests she's nuts too or at least clueless.

 

[Victor Kelly]

Battery is the actual contact with another person.
Assault is the "threatening action" of a battery.

Someone punches you while you see it coming, that's assault and battery. Same person punches you from behind and you didn't see if coming, that's just battery.

Screwy how the laws are written.

 

[GoofySpeed]

Exactly. I've done a fair number of character meet n greets as an adult and at no time does it even cross my mind that initiating any touching of ANY character is appropriate, face, princess or otherwise. Heck if were doing a princess meet and greet picture the most I'll offer is my arm like a gentleman to not make it awkward for the cast member.
How this guy's wife didn't just clock him right then and there is beyond me. Groping some other woman right there while you're getting a picture taken?

I’ve never done a meet and great but have done the Enchanted Tales with Belle once. All adult participants were explicitly told to offer our arm to her, and she would come take your arm for a picture. I would have thought that that would have been the standard rules given to all adults in the meet and greats.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I’ve never done a meet and great but have done the Enchanted Tales with Belle once. All adult participants were explicitly told to offer our arm to her, and she would come take your arm for a picture. I would have thought that that would have been the standard rules given to all adults in the meet and greats.

I’ve never been to this meet and greet so I looked it up on Instagram to see how it’s set up.... if you look through the public photos for that location you see lots of hugging and such. That’s important in this case.... battery is touching without consent. The meet and greet implies consent to be touched appropriately. Did he realize where his hand was? That seems like a silly question but that’s exactly what needs to be proved in this case. If his hand was in a natural place and the cm told him to move his hand up did he actually realize where he was moving his hand to? Or did it just feel like the costume to him?

It’s not for me to decide... it’s a judge and possibly jury and the photos will make a big difference here. But this case isn’t like someone just walked up and grabbed her shells as some joke. It seems more complicated than that.

Please understand I fully believe the cm feels like she was violated and that’s not ok and she has every right to press charges. The whole situation sounds weird and of course there are details we don’t know.

 

[UNCgolf]

Depends on the jurisdiction.

Yeah, I was speaking generally. Some states have combined them into one offense. It looks like Florida still considers them separate, though.

 

[Kram Sacul]

I don’t know why but the term grope always sounds funny.

 

[GoofySpeed]

I’ve never been to this meet and greet so I looked it up on Instagram to see how it’s set up.... if you look through the public photos for that location you see lots of hugging and such. That’s important in this case.... battery is touching without consent. The meet and greet implies consent to be touched appropriately. Did he realize where his hand was? That seems like a silly question but that’s exactly what needs to be proved in this case. If his hand was in a natural place and the cm told him to move his hand up did he actually realize where he was moving his hand to? Or did it just feel like the costume to him?

It’s not for me to decide... it’s a judge and possibly jury and the photos will make a big difference here. But this case isn’t like someone just walked up and grabbed her shells as some joke. It seems more complicated than that.

Please understand I fully believe the cm feels like she was violated and that’s not ok and she has every right to press charges. The whole situation sounds weird and of course there are details we don’t know.

The arrest affidavit states that the victim, photopass photographer, and character attendant all gave consistent statements. It says that the defendant placed his right arm around the victim’s shoulders. The victim was immediately uncomfortable with the defendant’s touch but was unable to move. The defendant continued to wrap his arm lower so that he could cup the victim’s right shell with his hand. The photopass photographer immediately recognized the victim’s body language as uncomfortable and verbally guided the defendant to remove his hand from around the victim by suggesting that he pose like a prince. The victim looked down and saw the suspect’s right hand on her right breast shell. The victim stated that the Velcro on the costume is weak and as she moved to look down the shell lifted and the defendant cupped the victim’s right breast with his right forefinger and thumb with only the thin skin-tight fabric in between her breast and the defendant’s thumb and forefinger. The defendant cupped and lifted the victim’s right breast for approximately three to four-seconds during the battery. The character attendant and photopass photographer worked to verbally correct the defendant’s hand placement and the defendant removed his hand from the victim’s breast and slipped it back around her shoulder before finally taking up a pose like a prince. The victim then took the defendants arm while the photopass photographer took the photo to use to identify the defendant when reporting the incident.

I too had to lookup what this meet and great looked like, and it would appear that if your touching skin, fabric (bra), or plastic (shells), your hand is in an incorrect location. It sounds like he started on her shoulder and worked his way down from there. He was instructed to remove his arm from around her, and then he went all the way in for a grab. He had to be instructed a second time to pose like a prince before retreating back to her shoulder and eventually posed like a prince for the photo . I understand that this is only three people’s side of this story, the defendant agreed to talk with detectives without an attorney present and it was redacted from the affidavit.

 

[NickPytlinski]

Freakin' scumbag. They should tie him up and drop Sebastian down the front of his underwear.

i like your Disney way of handling this lol perfect!

 

[DryerLintFan]

I’ve never done a meet and great but have done the Enchanted Tales with Belle once. All adult participants were explicitly told to offer our arm to her, and she would come take your arm for a picture. I would have thought that that would have been the standard rules given to all adults in the meet and greats.

This one she's in her mermaid tail and she doesn't get up to greet you. She waves you toward her. And she does hug but it's not a real hug. It's like a dancing frame hug, like you'd give to someone you didn't like.

 

[DryerLintFan]

The arrest affidavit states that the victim, photopass photographer, and character attendant all gave consistent statements. It says that the defendant placed his right arm around the victim’s shoulders. The victim was immediately uncomfortable with the defendant’s touch but was unable to move. The defendant continued to wrap his arm lower so that he could cup the victim’s right shell with his hand. The photopass photographer immediately recognized the victim’s body language as uncomfortable and verbally guided the defendant to remove his hand from around the victim by suggesting that he pose like a prince. The victim looked down and saw the suspect’s right hand on her right breast shell. The victim stated that the Velcro on the costume is weak and as she moved to look down the shell lifted and the defendant cupped the victim’s right breast with his right forefinger and thumb with only the thin skin-tight fabric in between her breast and the defendant’s thumb and forefinger. The defendant cupped and lifted the victim’s right breast for approximately three to four-seconds during the battery. The character attendant and photopass photographer worked to verbally correct the defendant’s hand placement and the defendant removed his hand from the victim’s breast and slipped it back around her shoulder before finally taking up a pose like a prince. The victim then took the defendants arm while the photopass photographer took the photo to use to identify the defendant when reporting the incident.

I too had to lookup what this meet and great looked like, and it would appear that if your touching skin, fabric (bra), or plastic (shells), your hand is in an incorrect location. It sounds like he started on her shoulder and worked his way down from there. He was instructed to remove his arm from around her, and then he went all the way in for a grab. He had to be instructed a second time to pose like a prince before retreating back to her shoulder and eventually posed like a prince for the photo . I understand that this is only three people’s side of this story, the defendant agreed to talk with detectives without an attorney present and it was redacted from the affidavit.

While you're armchair quarterbacking this girl's assault.... the articles state that there was only a thin piece of clothing between him and her. Meaning he didn't cup her ridiculously thick and bulky shell. It sounds like he slid his hand up under it where only the mesh body suit was.

 

[allymonkey]

This Ariel M&G has always been popular with adult men and I have heard from a "friend" of Ariel's that the handlers and photographers receive some extra training on how to handle guests like this. Not only does the handler for this Ariel need to be able to help her come onstage but to basically act as a bodyguard.