Posted on 01/07/2007 8:08:26 AM PST by martin_fierro
Father: Costumed 'Tigger' hit his son
Sun Jan 7, 5:53 AM ET
ORLANDO, Fla. - A Walt Disney World employee dressed as the character "Tigger" was accused of hitting a child while posing for a photo, a spokeswoman for the theme park said Saturday.
Park officials temporarily suspended Michael J. Fedelem while they investigate the accusations, Disney spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez said.
"Naturally, physical altercations between cast members and guests are not tolerated," Suarez said.
Jerry Monaco of New Hampshire videotaped his son, Jerry Jr., posing with the costumed character at Disney-MGM Studios on Friday and recorded the confrontation, according to a statement from the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
The father said Fedelem intentionally hit his son "on or about the head," said sheriff's spokesman Carlos M. Padilla. "The tape only shows a fraction of what happened. Now it's up to us to find out what led up to that."
A message left by The Associated Press for Monaco was not immediately returned. A telephone listing for Fedelem could not be located.
In 2004 a Walt Disney World employee dressed as Tigger was accused of touching the breast of a 13-year-old girl while she posed with him for a photo. A jury found the man not guilty.
We had those escorts as well - pretty much window dressing in our case: mostly girls, a few guys, carrying a walkie talkie and noone over 5'10" as they also wore the costumes the rest of the time. Haven't been back since, so I have no idea if they've changed anything.
I saw what you saw in the video - a kid that would lose MANY MANY privileges after acting like that. Sheesh!
Haha - small world! I worked at Magic Mt. I didn't name it because not everyone knows southern CA parks. I envied the characters at the other parks - I hardly ever saw gangs there! :)
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