Author Topic: Tigger gets his groove on here in Orlando. (Read 187 times)

mrtonguetwista · « **on:** April 07, 2004, 08:44:23 PM »

ORLANDO, Fla. - A Walt Disney World employee who worked as the character "Tigger" was charged Friday with molesting a 13-year-old girl and her mother while posing with them for pictures.

Michael Chartrand, 36, was arrested and charged with one count of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child between 12 and 15 and one count of simple battery. He was booked at the Orange County Jail on a $2,500 bond.

A Disney spokeswoman said Chartrand has been suspended without pay.

The sheriff's office received a complaint that a costumed character at Disney World had touched a girl and her mother inappropriately while their pictures were being taken Feb. 21.

According to an incident report, Chartrand fondled the breasts of the girl and the mother while posing for pictures at the Magic Kingdom's Toon Town.

"As the photo was being taken, (the victim) claims that Tigger moved his right hand up to her right breast and started massaging it several times," the report said. "(The victim) became very embarrassed and ashamed of the incident and claims that she did not say anything to her mother until they left the park."

The girl later learned that the costumed character had done the same thing to her mother with his left hand, according to the report. The girl and her father reported the incident Feb. 29.