Beware of Perverts - Unfortunately, even at the happiest place on earth

[TDS373X]

How sad that the Happiest Place on Earth will never ever again be that for this young girl. My prayers go out to her and her family.

 

[earthfaries]

I whole heartedly agree with Amy+Dan and Osjah&Landon'smom. I do not let my 11 year old go to the bathroom alone, or play video games alone in wal-mart, etc. because I love him too much. He is priceless. Bad stuff happens, and 12 is a common age for abducted kids. And you can call me over-paraniod if you want, I don't care! I will have my children the next morning, every morning because I care about them, therefore watch them and don't let them off alone. Unfortunately bad stuff happens to some kids, and I hate to say this, but it usually happens to those kids who are off by themselves, in the restrooms alone, etc. because their parents think it is good for them.
At a movie theater here in town a few months ago, an 11 year old boy was in the mens bathroom and a man came in and put his hand over his mouth and pushed him into a stall and tried molesting him, but thank god he got away. The News crew was there and wanted to interview us about what we thought and I told them, weirdos are everywhere, I don't let my kids out of my sight, and it is not hurting them, it is protecting them!

 

[Desnik]

This is so sad to here. I am so glad this sicko was caught.

While recently at WDW, DH and I couldn't believe the amount of small children left alone around the resort. Many times we saw kids going from the main pool(BWV) to the quiet pool, community hall alone. Things like that. I have a 4 and 9 year old and they go no where without me! Call me over protective, I don't care. You can teach your kids all about strangers and we have, but them knowing does nothing against a sicko who is bigger/stronger than them and who could possibly have a weapon!!! I don't take any unnecessary chances when it comes to my children, especially at the ages they are now. No going to the bathroom alone for my 9 year old! I'm just more comfortable being the way I am.

 

[SamSam]

Maybe I'm too trusting, but I honestly believe that as a society today, we are smothering our children. I find it hard to believe that as adults we should never let our children (especially 12 year olds?!) "out of our eye sight". What kind of message are we sending to these children about the world and their ability to cope with it?

I teach my daughters about "stranger danger". More importantly, I teach my children about "not-stranger" danger...let's face it...it is very rare for abuse to occur from a stranger - most is due to someone the child knows. I teach them to trust their instincts, and if something doesn't feel right or if they are nervous about a situation, then they should seek out help.

However, I refuse to let my children grow up afraid to play outside without me standing there watching them every minute. I want my children to become independent, strong-minded individuals who can look after themselves if a situation arises.

That being said, I would never leave a small child (say, under the age of 7) near open water, and don't let my 6 year old wander too far away from me. But, occasionally I let my 8 year old ride her bike around the block without me. I let her go to the washroom without me. When we are at wal-mart, sometimes I let the girls go to the toy section while I'm picking up groceries with the understanding that they must stay together while they are there (for short periods of time...like 5 minutes).

I guess I just feel it is better to equip our children with the right defenses and then let them live their lives. No matter how much you try to keep an eye on them every minute, every mother becomes distracted by their cell phone, a conversation, a salesclerk, etc. I refuse to spend our lives agonizing over a greatly over-stated risk that they may be molested by a stranger.

JMHO
Heather, Mom to Emily (8) and Sarah (6)

I agree 100% with you. Yes, it's important to protect our children, but it's also important to teach them the life skills necessary to make it on their own.

 

[christophfam]

I have an 11-year old boy and an upcoming trip to WDW. The bathroom issue is really bothersome to me. I think he will just be mortified if I make him go into the women's restroom with me. Let's face it, others will stare at him and make him feel even more uncomfortable. My sister will be there so she can sit with him while I go (thank goodness), but there won't be anyone to go into the men's room with him. I'm just not sure what the answer here is. I guess I know how long it should take him and if there is any delay, I'll holler in to make sure he is all right??

I also have a trip this summer where we will be flying and no sister along. I usually avoid the bathrooms on the plane, but I think the best thing for us will be to use them instead of having to go in the airport. I would never let him wait for me to go in such a public place.

 

[digskat]

in December, my DS (7) and I were sitting outside the World of Disney store at DTD, and a woman parked a stroller beside us, and told a toddler "you just stay here." She walked into the store, and left a 2 year old sitting in his stroller. I was absolutely shocked, and refused to leave the area until she came back out (at least 10 minutes later). My son was so horrified, that this was the first thing he told his mother, when she came out from shopping.

I live in a fairly rural area, and in the last couple of years, a 9 year old girl was abducted from her front yard, and a 5 year old was approached by a man in a car, as she rode her bike on the sidewalk in front of her house. Call me crazy, but I would rather be over-protective with a safe child, than under protective and regret it later.



I also work in a jail, with rapists and murderers, and believe me, they are out there waiting for an opportunity, and it doesn't take them long to take advantage of our 'trust'. Kids grow up fast, but a kicking and screaming kid isn't a big deterrant for these predators, they are smart enough to make it look like a parent disciplining a belligerant child. My kids are taught how to safeguard themselves, while at home and at school, but for me, my vigilance goes a lot further.

 

[Cinderella1122]

It's really scary that there are people like this at the happiest place on earth. I'm taking my younger sister and brother to disney with me in December and I already told them that we are all going to stick together. They were a little mad because they think they are old enough to go out on their own (my sister will be 20 and my brother will be 18). Yes, I know they are adults by law and they let me know that all the time. I let them know as long as my parents are trusting me with their well-being, they are going to obey my rules. Atleast now I can show them this article to show that I have a right to be worried and concerned. Thank you for posting it.

 

[happygirl]

I'm so glad they caught this slime ball!! there is a special place in hell for people that mistreat kids

 

[Olaf]

I think there was a book written a few years back about pervs who frequent WDW. It really is a magnet for those people.

 

[earthfaries]

in December, my DS (7) and I were sitting outside the World of Disney store at DTD, and a woman parked a stroller beside us, and told a toddler "you just stay here." She walked into the store, and left a 2 year old sitting in his stroller. I was absolutely shocked, and refused to leave the area until she came back out (at least 10 minutes later). My son was so horrified, that this was the first thing he told his mother, when she came out from shopping.

I live in a fairly rural area, and in the last couple of years, a 9 year old girl was abducted from her front yard, and a 5 year old was approached by a man in a car, as she rode her bike on the sidewalk in front of her house. Call me crazy, but I would rather be over-protective with a safe child, than under protective and regret it later.

Amen!!! That is 100% true! Just because we are protecting our children by not letting them go around the neighborhood alone and stay in Wal-Mart (which is really scary) alone does not mean we are not teaching them about safety and responsibility and bad people. I think that my children know a lot more about the dangers and about the bad people and what to do if ever in that situation than most kids do, because by discussing it and keeping an eye on them we are showing them just what a real danger it is! Like I said before, those kids getting abducted and molested are unsupervised kids! Not our supervised ones! And learnig about life and lifes dangers and going out and being put into potentially dangerious situations at such an early age are two totally different things! I can teach my 11 year old how to drive, and I am sure he could do it well, but he sure isn't OLD enough or responsible enough to do it out there alone yet!

 

[Torontogal]

I was shocked at the number of young children I saw on the Disney Magic playing in the elevators. One little boy looked about 6-7 yrs. old and it must have been after 9pm. I did not see parents anywhere!

 

[kakiegirl]

That is horrible. I have always thought that Disneyworld would probably be a place that pedophiles would be attracted to because of all the young children as sad as that is to say. DD is 8 and I try to never let her out of my site. I don't even like the play areas at Dinoland and MGM and try to stay away from them. Before we go to Disney I always talk to her about what to do if she gets lost. I know I am a protective some would say overprotective mother and I make no apologies for it. I have just now gotten to where I let her go at Chuck-E-Cheese with a frienad because they stamp our hands and I still worry but I don't want to smother her, but if I don't see her for a few minutes I feel my heart start racing. As sad a statement as it is about our society today I am sure there are alot of perverts at Disney and I think it shows what great security they have that a child has never been abducted from there (as far as I know). Of course the best security and trained cast members in the world can not take the place of parent supervision. (Not saying that it is a parents fault when a child is abducted sometimes you can try your very best to protect your children and things still happen)

 

[twinkie]

This makes me so ANGRY! There is nothing bad enough they can do to this creep. Wish I was sitting on the jury that tries him.

 

[marconat]

WDW is a buffet for those kind of people, I always said it... I don't trust no-one, and in the play area, I or my Hubby always fallow the kids around. They are always by my side...
On my first trip to Disney, I was waiting in line to go see some characters and this woman was talking to my sister, Her elderly mother was waiting in the sun outside, and she wanted to go get her and sit her in the shade... she told my sister, you guys look like honest people can I leave my daughter (around the age of 5) with you while I go and get my mother and sit her on the bench... Of course we looked after her, OMG, I was happy that it was me and not some perv. but I would NEVER do something like that, no matter how innocent someone looks.

 

[tomerin]

i think that we subconsciously drop our guard while we are in the "World" because they do such a great job of creating a place where fantasy exists. it is too easy to forget that just because of where we are that we can relax and forget our common sense and just lose focus. my youngest son wanted to go off on his own when he was younger. we were in MK and i almost said ok before my DW immediatley said no. then i realized that she was right so i went with him and just allowed him to be the boss.

it scares me to see how often little children are left unattended in my store and thats just a local supermarket.

 

[kribit]

in December, my DS (7) and I were sitting outside the World of Disney store at DTD, and a woman parked a stroller beside us, and told a toddler "you just stay here." She walked into the store, and left a 2 year old sitting in his stroller. I was absolutely shocked, and refused to leave the area until she came back out (at least 10 minutes later). My son was so horrified, that this was the first thing he told his mother, when she came out from shopping.

I live in a fairly rural area, and in the last couple of years, a 9 year old girl was abducted from her front yard, and a 5 year old was approached by a man in a car, as she rode her bike on the sidewalk in front of her house. Call me crazy, but I would rather be over-protective with a safe child, than under protective and regret it later.

I also work in a jail, with rapists and murderers, and believe me, they are out there waiting for an opportunity, and it doesn't take them long to take advantage of our 'trust'. Kids grow up fast, but a kicking and screaming kid isn't a big deterrant for these predators, they are smart enough to make it look like a parent disciplining a belligerant child. My kids are taught how to safeguard themselves, while at home and at school, but for me, my vigilance goes a lot further.

I'm so glad you wrote this, as I agree with your post 110%.

 

[mjkaferle5]

I have just now gotten to where I let her go at Chuck-E-Cheese with a frienad because they stamp our hands and I still worry but I don't want to smother her, but if I don't see her for a few minutes I feel my heart start racing.

I think the Chuck-E-Cheese handstamp is the falsest sense of security in the world. That little stamp does nothing. The majority of the folks they have working the exit door, barely look at those stamps.

 

[Camicar]

The fact is that these sickos are everywhere and you have to be willfully blind not to know otherwise -- but apparently there are plenty of willfully blind people who send their kids out unsupervised in Toys R Us, Walmart, and WDW.

Once when I was in Walmart, a guy was wandering around the toy section. Something about him gave me the creeps, and I just walked up to him and asked, "What are you doing here?" He jumped and ran out of the store. A clerk told me that the guy had been in the store every day for a month in the toy section and that they were all worried he was there just waiting for a parent to drop a kid off and that the staff had been skulking around the area in response watching him but no one had had the guts to confront him. I told the clerk that I have an endless supply of guts after two of my neighbor girls were nearly abducted on a bright summer day while riding bikes down our street. There were people everywhere around and yet this guy was desperate enough to try and pull TWO girls right off their bikes. He didn't succeed only because the two girls were able to get away and screamed. He got away and no one got his license number but did note the make of vehicle.

Months later, several girls were abducted, raped, and killed and their bodies dumped by the side of the road. They had all been riding their bikes down rural rides with no adult supervision. When the guy was finally caught, his car was the same as our neighborhood wacko. I've always wondered if our neighborhood wacko was that killer and having learned his lesson that abducting kids off a busy street was a bad idea that he turned to rural areas. The worst part was that in the middle of this, people from the rural towns were interviewed and said that they were not going to supervise their kids or keep them close because they didn't want to scare them. Sheesh! I'd rather have my dd scared than raped and killed.

The problem is that there are many people like that. Which is why my dd won't got on a school trip or vacation without us. A few years ago the son of a friend of mine went on a trip to Europe with the school with teacher and parent chaperones. When the kids (14-18) got to Rome, the adults announced that the kids were free for 48 hours with no check ins or curfews and they should do as they wish and not bother the adults unless they were dead. And we've seen the same behavior from adult chaperones at WDW over and over. You would think teachers would at least be concerned about liability, but they do not seem to be. As one teacher told me on a field trip in which the teachers abandoned the kids to stand off behind the busses and smoke, "Field trips are a vacation for us. It's time for the parents to do the work." Hence, my dd goes nowhere without me.

 

[Andy B]

guess this just proves that they are everywhere.

No, this shows they could be anywhere.

 

[kakiegirl]

I think the Chuck-E-Cheese handstamp is the falsest sense of security in the world. That little stamp does nothing. The majority of the folks they have working the exit door, barely look at those stamps.

That is why I say nothing takes the place of parent supervision and I only let her go when she is with a friend and they stay together. However, the employees at our Chuck-E-Cheese are very diligent. I was behind a man one day telling them he came in after his wife, and that she was now in the mall shopping, he was trying to take his children out the children even told them that was there daddy and they told him they could not let them leave until the Wife came back. They alway check our hands very carefully when we go to leave. I also know the emergency exit door has an alarm on it if it is opened because someone tried to go out it one day.