Police: Man Exposes Himself At Water Park
POSTED: Thursday, August 28, 2008
UPDATED: 12:05 am EDT August 29,
2008
JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. -- A family water park designed for kids turned out to be anything but fun and games when police said a man exposed himself in front of children.
The incident took place at Adventure Landing in Jacksonville Beach.
Local police said 38-year-old Franco Costanzo Checchi was arrested on charges of exposing himself in front of four children, including one child who was a 4-year-old, at a family fun night.
They said one of the children's parents found an off-duty officer at the park and told the officer that Checchi was intentionally exposing his genitals, and then watching the children to see if they would look at his naked body.
"An investigation revealed that this guy had walked back over to the lockers and bared himself in front of four juvenile victims, hoping that they would stare at his … naked body," said Jacksonville Beach Police Department Sgt. Thomas Bingham. "From a parent's perspective, this is the worst crime ... the most heinous crime you can commit on a child aside from touching the child."
According to a police report, when an officer approached Checchi, he spontaneously said, "Sir, I'm sorry. I know I made a mistake. I'm not in any trouble, am I?"
The officer said he hadn't asked Checchi any questions when the man continued, saying, "I come here all the time. I know the rules. I shouldn't have done what I did. I just did it for a minute."
The general manager of the park painted a much different picture of what happened, although he admitted he had not seen the police report.
"He had put a towel around him, took his bathing suit off, which a lot of people do, and at some point his towel came off," said Adventure Landing General Manager Lee Hovis.
Checchi was arrested and charged with four counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a child. He was released on bond.
Copyright 2009 by News4Jax.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.