Honk News (Orlando, FL) – A 72-year-old man from Rhode Island has been charged with a crime following allegations of inappropriate contact with children in a lazy river at a hotel close to the Walt Disney World resort in Florida.
On Tuesday, March 11, William Francis Chatel was taken into custody and faces charges related to inappropriate conduct involving a minor under the age of 12, as indicated by online court documents.
Just two days ago, on Sunday, March 9, a young girl was enjoying the lazy river at the Club Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort in Orlando when she reported feeling something brush against her. Upon looking down, she noticed an elderly man who had made contact with her lower back and right side, as detailed in an arrest affidavit from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
A young girl, whose identity and age have been withheld in the affidavit, reported that she attempted to steer clear of him for the remainder of her time in the lazy river.
On the following day, Monday, March 10, the girl reported encountering the same man in the lazy river and attempted to steer clear of him, but he would “slow down” and “float towards” her, as stated in the affidavit.
Moments later, she rushed to her mother, “in tears and hysterical,” saying the man allegedly “grabbed” her “buttocks and squeezed it and tickled it while underwater,” according to the affidavit.
The mother of the girl contacted the sheriff’s office, requesting that someone keep an eye on the man until the authorities could get there.
As authorities were on their way, a video surfaced that reportedly depicts a man “getting close to young girls in the lazy river, often when they were by themselves,” and seemingly “swimming towards them and reaching/paddling underwater in their direction,” as stated in the affidavit.
According to the affidavit, another individual reportedly witnessed the man inappropriately touch a young female.
Upon the deputies’ arrival at the resort, they found Chatel relaxing in the hot tub. A deputy approached him as he exited the hot tub and made his way back to his room. He was apprehended smoothly and without any complications.
He remains in custody at the Orange County jail, with no bond set, as he prepares for his upcoming court appearance on March 18.