JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – A family says they were traumatized after their daughter said she witnessed a stranger touch three of her friends inappropriately during a church lock-in at Adventure Landing. The parents said the park should have prevented this from happening.
That man is still on the run despite a composite sketch given to authorities.
The lock-in began at midnight Saturday. Police said the man told a park attendant that he was a chaperone with the church group. In an interview with News4Jax the family explained what the last couple days have been like for them.
"He was saying stuff about his mom and his cousin. He wasn't really making any sense," said 12-year-old Cameron Kuitkowski.
Kuitkowski spoke about what she called one of the scariest moments of her life. She said the stranger appeared to be drunk and was acting erratically as he talked to them.
"He kept getting mad at us and screaming at us because we weren't listening to his story, apparently. It just didn't make any sense," Kuitkowski said.
From there, she said things quickly escalated and the man touched one of her friends on the breast, another on the thigh and then grabbed a third little girl by the shoulders and shook her.
"I was scared that something was going to happen to me, like he was going to steal me or something," she said.
According to an Adventure Landing spokesperson, the man was let in after he convinced the park attendant that he was part of the group. Kuitkowski said she couldn't even find a group chaperone to tell them what happened. She finally had to go to a park employee before the man was kicked out.
Kuitkowski's mother, Celina, said the attendant should have known he didn't belong there.
"His eyes were rolling in the back of his head," Celina said. "He was slurring his speech, he was using vulgar language. She didn't have the sense to notice that this man was heavily intoxicated? And also, she didn't look for a wristband. The kids were supposed to -- everyone was supposed to -- have a wristband on."
Despite their frustrations with the park's actions that night, for Kuitkowski and her parents, what matters most is finding out who the man is.
Police said the man was described as a white man 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.