Back in late May a 12-year-old girl was vacationing at the Fort Wilderness Resort in Disney World along with her foster family when she allegedly had sex with 29-year-old Jean C. Garcia from Deltona, Florida. Scared and stupid, she waited until June to inform her foster mother of the incident because she thought she was pregnant. She didn’t know the man’s name but she did have a business card that he had written his telephone number on, so the Clearwater (where the girl lives) Police contacted the Orange County Sheriff’s Office with the information.
Orange County deputies set up a sting a few days ago and called Garcia posing as the victim, telling him that they were returning to Disney World at the beginning of September and wanted to set up another meeting. As Garcia showed up to meet her at the campground he was arrested and charged with sexual battery and a judge has denied his bond.
This is particularly scary because the most recent trip we took to Disney earlier this year, instead of staying at one of the resorts we had been to before we decided to camp at Fort Wilderness. It’s decidedly family friendly and didn’t seem like such a big deal to let the girls go back and forth to the restrooms or the playground by themselves. That damn sure won’t happen again. It’s easy to forget just how many scumbags there are when you are at the happiest place on earth but I suppose it’s a great preying ground for pedophiles.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://i0.wp.com/img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png)
One thing you really need to remember, is there is *NO* safe place where people like this are concerned. Teachers do it. Janitors do it. Gas station attendants. Police. Doctors. Dentists. People who work for television. There are deviants everywhere. Your best defense against this kind of assault is arming your kids with information and power. Teach them what to do when some sleazebag comes up to them. You could go the “guard the kids all day long” route, but eventually that will backfire when the kids are left alone, are a little older, or get lured away from other places you expect to be “safe”. The best defense is always a good offense. Protect your kids by teaching them to protect themselves. Because, be realistic, you can’t be everywhere and every time they are alone they need to be able to make decisions like this for themselves. Whether it’s some guy the kid likes, or some stranger she’s just met, she needs to know how to handle it, rather than rely on others.