The incident took place at Ariel’s Grotto in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort.
Charges have been dropped against a man who was accused of groping a Disney Cast Member dressed as Princess Ariel.
On the 2nd November, 2019, 51-year-old Brian Sherman had been asked to pose with the Cast Member acting as Ariel.
“I love Ariel, Ariel is my favourite!” Sherman exclaimed as he entered the meet and greet location with his wife, according to a Disney employee in the police report about the incident.
According to the employee, she was seated between Sherman and his wife for the photograph.
As the picture was being taken, Sherman wrapped his arm around the costumed Cast Member and “cupped and lifted” her breast for several seconds.
The Ariel costume provided only a layer of “thin skin-tight fabric” between the victim’s chest and the thumb and forefinger of Sherman’s hand, which had slid beneath the clamshell bra, according to the testimony in the police report.
A co-worker at the meet and greet location noted that the “victim’s body language as uncomfortable,” and guided Sherman’s arm from around the victim.
The co-worker suggested Sherman adopt a pose similar to Prince Eric, which Sherman then did.
Once Sherman and his wife left the meet and greet location, the victim began crying and shaking, promoting her co-worker to close the popular attraction and call the police.
Interviewed by the police, Sherman was asked if he “remembered feeling his hand go inside the victim’s costume.”
Sherman, a registered sex offender, said that “I can see it in my mind that it happened.”
The police report notes suggest that Sherman had “repeatedly stated that he might have touched the victim’s breast and that it was accidental.”
The 51-year-old offered to apologise to the victim, saying that he had “hugged people in the past in a way that has been taken as sexual.”
Sherman has been required to register as a sex offender due to a 1991 conviction on four felonies related to the sexual abuse of victims under the age of 12.
Florida prosecutors have found Sherman “is not suitable for prosecution,” though the legal filing for dismissal does not say why they believe so.
RELATED: 51-Year-Old Man Arrested After Groping Costumed Character at Magic Kingdom
Source: The Smoking Gun, Newsweek
