Pedophiles ‘n Parks
Volume 4 Issue 2 (2001)
Dr. Richard Dangle, The Praesidium, Inc.

You have seen them--bumping into kids in the wave pool, hanging around the changing rooms, splashing in the kiddie pond, running under the waterfall with a toddler, and maybe even playing with their own children. Pedophiles. Child molesters. Sexual offenders. Wherever children play, they linger. And waterparks are no exception.

Why Pedophiles Love Waterparks
Child molesters work in secret. They do not want anyone to know what they do. If they get caught, they face humiliation, hatred, and perhaps even jail time. So they seek environments were they can commit their crimes and get lost in the crowd. To a child molester, a waterpark offers anonymity. Sexual predators look for children with specific physical characteristics that they find attractive. A crowded waterpark provides an almost unlimited selection of possible victims. Ask a pedophile what he thinks about waterparks and this is what you’ll hear, “It’s a paradise. Where else can you find tanned, beautiful kids in tiny little bathing suits?” Families, looking through eyes of innocence, see waterparks as good, clean fun. Child molesters, looking through eyes of lust, see opportunity.

Waterparks offer easy access to children. Parents let their children wander about the park to enjoy the activities. Child molesters like environments where they have easy access to children—children whose parents may not have them in direct sight at all times.

One method pedophiles use to gain access to unsuspecting children is to act like a child. What better way to lure a child than to engage in child’s play? And, an adult acting like a child at a waterpark would be easily overlooked. We recently completed a safety assessment of a waterpark after a child molester invited three 10-year-old girls to play “rescue.” He pretended he was drowning while they jumped in to “rescue” him. The first two saves were great fun! On the third, he slipped off his bathing suit so he could feel the young girls sliding against him.

Nudity attracts child molesters. On a hot summer day, waterparks overflow with partially clad children. Environments where children change clothes or where they may be semi-nude give pedophiles the chance to steal looks, take pictures, make videotapes, create fantasies, and get aroused. Child molesters frequent locker rooms, changing areas, and bathrooms in search of a potential victim.

The Risks Your Park Faces
Your park may be held liable for three types of improper sexual contact. The first is sexual contact between a waterpark employee and a guest. For example, if your maintenance worker, lifeguard, or concession stand vendor exposes himself to a child in the locker room, you could be found guilty of negligent screening and retention. The second type of risk is sexual contact between an adult park guest and a child at the park. For example, if a child gets fondled in the wave pool or a guest masturbates in front of a child in the locker room, your park could be accused of negligent supervision and monitoring. The third type of risk is sexual contact between a minor guest and another minor guest. For example, if a 14-year-old has sexual contact with a 10-year-old in the wave pool experts will testify that most pedophiles claim their first victim before the age of 15 so your park should have known that the risk of peer-to-peer abuse required management.

Types of Sexual Activity
You may spot three categories of sexual activity at your waterpark. The first, pre-abuse behavior, includes staring, loitering, and unsolicited verbal interactions. A child molester on the prowl will stare at children he finds attractive and loiter at areas where children are undressed or unsupervised. He may try to engage a lone child in conversation to determine how vulnerable the child is. For example, a child molester can use the answer to, “Do you need help finding your Mom,” or “Do you want to go play by the blue slides?” to gauge how closely the child is supervised. The second type of sexual behavior, non-contact sexual abuse, includes lewd or suggestive comments, unauthorized photographing or videotaping, exposure of the genitals, and masturbation. These can occur almost anywhere in the park but changing rooms, showers, and water canals provide perfect settings.

By the time these occur, the molester is but one small step away from the third type of sexual activity, contact sexual abuse, including frottage, fondling, and rape. Frottage is the technical term to describe bumping into someone for sexual gratification, for example, when a child molester repeatedly “accidentally” bumps into children. Rides that crowd guests into tubes or onto slides make fondling easy for child molesters. A park manager recently told us of catching an adult male permitting adult guests to step ahead of him in line until he could be seated as the only adult in a crowded group of children. Rapes occur in secluded park areas: the parking lot, stalls in bathrooms, supply rooms, and mechanical areas. We investigated one situation where an 11-year-old was raped by a 14-year-old while the two of them floated in a stack of inner-tubes in a water canal.

How to Manage Your Risks
You can manage the risks of illegal sexual activity at your park by carefully screening and monitoring your employees. While you should conduct criminal background checks on all your employees, remember that less than 6% of sex offenders have arrest records. You will have to monitor your employee’s interactions while on duty.

Training all your employees in how to recognize and respond to inappropriate or suspicious guest behavior can help to keep your park safe. Teach your employees how to interrupt guests who may be engaging in unacceptable behavior. Remember, pedophiles want secrecy. Simply approaching the person, introducing yourself as a park staff member, and asking if the person needs assistance will almost always do the trick. You can also describe for the person specifically what you have identified as a concern. For example, “I’ve observed you bumping into children in the wave pool several times. Please be more careful,” or, “I’ve had reports from parents who are uncomfortable with you splashing their children.” You are offering assistance or providing a specific description of a problem behavior. If the guest becomes hostile or belligerent or refuses to stop the troublesome behavior, immediately report the situation to security. Do not jeopardize your safety.

Finally, increase your monitoring of high risk park areas, such as changing areas, bathrooms, out-of-the-way locations, kiddie pools, and especially-crowded rides serving mixed age groups.

A molestation incident can destroy the reputation of your park. The costs of litigation and the judgments against your park for failing to take prudent steps to protect children are staggering. You can use these simple risk management strategies to help keep your park safe from child molesters.