Adventure Landing groper still sought

Police: Park attendant let man into church lock-in

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – Managers at Adventure Landing in Jacksonville Beach say they are reviewing their policy and procedure following a disturbing incident early Saturday morning.

Jacksonville Beach police said a man groped kids at the park during a church lock-in. Police said the man convinced an attendant he was a chaperone, and the attendant let him in.

"It was a deliberate act," said Sgt. Thomas Crumley. "He did this intentionally and he kind of knew what he was doing. And typically these kind of acts progress to worse things, so it's very important for us to find him now."

About 200 kids from Christ's Church in Mandarin took over Adventure Landing for the overnight lock-in that started at midnight. At 1:15 a.m., the man approached the park and was let in, police said.

The children said the man smelled like alcohol, had red, swollen eyes, and was slurring his speech. They said he was trying to tell them a story, but just wasn't making any sense.

"She got all mad and said, 'Is there any point to your story?'" 12-year-old Cameron Kuitkowski, who was at the lock-in, said of one of her friends. "And he said, 'Yeah, give me 30 seconds.' So she went, 'One, two, three,' to count to 30, and he smacked her really hard on the stomach and said, 'Don't count.'"

Police said the man shook a student by the shoulders and fondled a girl's chest and another's upper thigh.

"That little girl was so scared that police had to do another sweep around the building before she would leave, because she was scared to leave the building with her mother," said Celina Kuitkowski, Cameron's mother.

News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said an event like this that's closed to the public can give off a false sense of security. He said it's a good reminder for people to never let their guard down, and for chaperones to constantly concentrate on the children.

"It would also be a good idea to have someone at the front entrance with the regular people who work there to let them know who belongs there and who doesn't," Smith said. "Someone walking in there saying, 'I'm with the group,' the attendant's not going to know the group nearly as well as the chaperone or the people who are responsible for the group. So someone should be there to let them know, 'No, this person doesn't belong here,' or, 'Yes, this person's OK.'"

"It kind of really stings as far as the children being the victims in this, and that's why we're really wanting to find this guy," Crumley said.

The man is described as white, in his late 20s to early 30s, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing 180 pounds. He was wearing a dark T-shirt with a DKNY logo, blue jeans and black shoes. Police said he may have been driving an older white Acura with a sunroof.

Anyone with information on the man's identity or whereabouts is asked to call the Jacksonville Beach Police Department at 904-270-1661.