[Park Hopper]

Twenty-four more people have come forward comlaining they were inappropriately touched by WDW's Tigger character. Here is the text of the Orlando Sentinel story:

More accuse park worker of fondling
Disney World patrons complained about a man who played Tigger.
By Anthony Colarossi and Sean Mussenden
Sentinel Staff Writers

April 9, 2004

Erin Rivera was looking forward to breakfast with Disney characters while at the vacation resort with her husband in June 2000.

But when she posed for a picture with a worker dressed as Tigger, the 21-year-old Zephyrhills woman recalled how the character touched her breast with his left paw, while holding her shoulder with his right.

"I don't think it was a mistake," said Rivera, who has a picture of her embrace with the character. "Everybody who goes through my photo album says, 'Tigger is groping you.' "

The Orange County Sheriff's Office said Thursday that it has received 24 complaints similar to Rivera's since the April 2 arrest of Michael C. Chartrand on charges that he molested a mother and daughter while he was in costume as the friendly tiger character from the Winnie the Pooh stories.

So far 13 of those cases are considered credible enough to be investigated actively, while the rest are being reviewed. Rivera has not reported her case to the Sheriff's Office but said Thursday that she plans to file a complaint.

"It appears we have 24 folks that feel there may have been something inappropriate and that something happened to them," said Jim Solomons, sheriff's spokesman. "We need to prove that it either happened or it didn't happen."

He added, "It appears all of our complaints are focusing on Tigger."

Disney would not discuss the spate of allegations since the initial arrest.

The company has been cooperating with the sex-crimes investigation and referring guests with complaints to the Sheriff's Office, Solomons and Disney officials said. Investigators are mindful that Disney could be a magnet for false claims, and former characters said in interviews that their actions while in the bulky costumes could be misconstrued by guests.

The Orlando Sentinel obtained several of the Sheriff's Office incident reports in which Disney visitors described inappropriate touching by Tigger from June 2003 to March 2004.

In one case last July, a mother said she was videotaping her 3-year-old daughter at the Magic Kingdom's Toon Town when the Tigger character approached from behind, put his hands around the woman's shoulders and held her for one to two minutes.

"Although she felt uncomfortable, she didn't think that someone dressed as Tigger would act in an inappropriate manner," the report said. "Her daughter asked her what Tigger was doing and the victim jokingly said, 'I don't know; I guess Tigger likes Mommy.' "

Another report detailed an incident last June at the Magic Kingdom's Crystal Palace. After being approached from behind, the woman told investigators, Tigger's "hands were over her breasts in a cupped type position" for about one minute.

In another February incident, a victim said Tigger was "feeling my butt the entire time the pictures were being taken."

Many victims said they initially were embarrassed by the incidents but decided to come forward after learning of Chartrand's arrest.

Solomons acknowledged that the timing and authenticity of the claims will be checked out as part of the probe.

"Are these people trying to get into Disney's pockets?" Solomons asked. "That's why we have an investigation.'

A Disney spokeswoman, citing the ongoing investigation of Chartrand, would not say whether the company had handled any similar incidents before his arrest.

Solomons said his office could not immediately determine how many similar incidents involving Disney characters were reported before Chartrand's arrest.

Officials at Universal Orlando and SeaWorld Orlando, which both have costumed characters, said they were not aware of similar complaints.

Since 1998, Walt Disney World has run criminal-background checks on all new hires, including Chartrand.

Chartrand, 36, of St. Cloud, has been released on $2,500 bail, but he would not comment Thursday on his case or the widening investigation.

"I'm not going to say anything," said Chartrand, who was suspended before his arrest.

Several of the incidents detailed in the sheriff's reports occurred during February and March when Chartrand was working as a costumed character. But it's not clear yet whether he was working as Tigger on the dates of the complaints. Some of the complaints predate his employment, which started in August 2003, according to Disney.

Disney's costumed characters receive training before interacting with guests. Supervisors also videotape new characters' first few work days to make them aware of inappropriate touching or out-of-character behavior.

The training encouraged the touching of guests' shoulders, but specifically made torsos off limits, said Robert Rexach, one of several employees who played Tigger from September 2000 to July 2003.

"In training they flat out said, 'Don't place your hand over a girl's breast, even if it is [hovering] a foot or two over it. A photograph is two dimensional, so that would look bad," Rexach, 21, said.

Tigger's paws are slightly oversized and contain "one or two millimeters" of padding underneath bright orange fur, he said, adding they are slightly less cumbersome than an oven mitt.

"I could turn pages in a book pretty well, but I still couldn't feel them," Rexach said.

Rexach said that he was dismissed by Disney after a teenage guest complained that he was attacked by Rexach, who was dressed as a Country Bear at the time. Rexach denied the allegation, arguing that he was attacked by the teenager and "nudged" him off in self-defense.

The Tigger of A.A. Milne's storybooks and Disney films possesses a hyperactive bent, and the theme-park character is trained to emulate that upbeat style with frequent arm and leg movements, said Megan Long, who played Winnie the Pooh from 2000 to 2002.

"He's supposed to be really hyper and outgoing. He can't stand in one place. He's not supposed to be grabbing children," said Long, who regularly worked alongside the Tigger character. The gloves that Pooh wore were similar to Tigger's, she said.

"It's not too thick where you can't feel [what you're touching]. It's thick enough so that kids cannot feel hands underneath, so they get the illusion that it's a real teddy bear," she said.

Long said she was always careful to keep her hand on or above the shoulder. If a visitor shifted positions during a hug, Long said she tried to move away immediately.

Once, dressed as Pooh, Long said she knelt down to play with a baby lounging in her mother's lap. To stabilize herself, Long rest her yellow-gloved hand on the woman's knee.

"She was like, 'Hey, Pooh, get your hand off my knee,' " Long said. "Inside the costume, we're human and we do make mistakes."

Erin Rivera, who was 18 when she said Tigger touched her, said she was embarrassed but did not to report it, thinking no one would take her seriously. After Chartrand's arrest, she too decided to come forward.

She said she contacted Disney about the incident, and theme-park officials referred her to the Sheriff's Office.

Rivera said she has been back to Disney twice since the incident, and she has even posed with characters for pictures.

"I just don't get my picture taken with Tigger anymore," she said.

[tinkerbell]

can you say "class action"? That was my first thought ... I just dont understand why all these people didnt complain before

[Screever]

As much as I talk the talk about beating up Tigger as soon as he touches me where he's not wanted, I don't think I could walk the walk. I would probably also be embarased and not want the whole world to know about something like that until someone else took a step of faith.

*shrugs* My thoughts. This is so sad though. I better be extra careful around Goofy, since he usually flirts with me. ^_^ I think that's the way Goofy is.

[tigger]

I hope they hang this guy high. Disney needs to get out front on this to send the message that they don't tolerate this behavior in their CM (which I'm sure they don't).

They need to be very aggressive here not just for customer assurance but so CM are clear that they will be caught and dealt with (which I'm sure they are doing). I just haven't heard much from Disney other then the info speak of PR department.

And Screever as a guy I give you permission to take things in to your hands if some jerk misplaces his...don't be embarrassed, he will probably be more embarrassed then you could imagine if you don't let him get away with it.

[ilvminnie]

I have a problem with the whole "bandwagon" thing. If something happened to me that I thought was intentional & wrong, I'd speak up immediately. I know my 18-yr-old dd would, also. I just see way too much of this way-after-the-fact thing. I have a hard time believing that a character in a costume as bulky & padded as they are would get much enjoyment from that.

[Dana]

This latest report is very discouraging. I, like iluvminnie, hate the band-wagon effect going on . It's frustrating. My DD posed with Tigger at the Crystal Palace on our last trip and I don't think he even touched her. I'll have to go look at the pictures. He certainly didn't touch me. Of course there are probally a few Tiggers running around. I just can't believe no one came forward until now...very odd. Maybe they just couldn't beleive what had happened and thought they wouldn't be taken seriously. I don't know...just a very sad report and a very sad day for WDW. How many mother's will no refuse to all ow their child to gfet their picture done with tigger becasue of what this reports says? Very sad day indeed. Thanks for the update Park Hopper.

[mickaholic4077]

This whole thing is a sad,sad situation indeed.

[tigger]

Originally posted by Dana
This latest report is very discouraging. I, like iluvminnie, hate the band-wagon effect going on . It's frustrating. My DD posed with Tigger at the Crystal Palace on our last trip and I don't think he even touched her. I'll have to go look at the pictures. He certainly didn't touch me. Of course there are probally a few Tiggers running around. I just can't believe no one came forward until now...very odd. Maybe they just couldn't beleive what had happened and thought they wouldn't be taken seriously. I don't know...just a very sad report and a very sad day for WDW. How many mother's will no refuse to all ow their child to gfet their picture done with tigger becasue of what this reports says? Very sad day indeed. Thanks for the update Park Hopper.

You know what would be really sad is if Disney reacts by enacting rules that keep Characters from touching visitors at all. No more hugs or goofing off for pictures...that would make me mad.

[MerlinMatt]

I find some of this to be really odd.

On the one hand, I can envision where someone would avoid reporting this. Disney is supposed to be a magical place and the characters are supposed to be innocent. The first reaction must be, "it must have been an accident." Then, unless you have corroboration from someone else, you might be reluctant to accuse a Disney character, especially when there are a bunch of kids around. You wouldn't want to spoil theirs or your own magic.

It must be tought to be Tigger though. He really is a spaz. He practically mugged my 11 yo DS. But it was clearly playful and he's smiling in the photograph. Tigger definately took him by surprise. He walked over to him to shake his hand and pose, and then all of a sudden, Tigger had him in a bear hug. It was funny and the picture is terrific. But I can certainly imagine how some people might not respond to that kind of attention well.

I'm willing to bet that there may be a "secret" that some of the Tiggers have been sharing and that at least some of these complaints are legitimate.

Thing is, I'm also quite sure that Tigger will need to be retrained and/or restrained and will have to be less "hyper" when he's in contact with someone. And that will stink, because that's part of what makes him Tigger.

----

The wunnerful thing about Tigger's....
Is Tigger's a wunnerful thing...
Their tops are made outta rubber....
Their bottoms are made outta springs!

They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy...
FUN, fun, fun, fun, FUN!!!
But the most wunnerful thing about Tigger's
Is I'm the only one.
IIIIII'm the only one!

[dznygrl]

Gosh, I hardly even know what to say. I was waiting for something like this to happen, but even so it's really sad!!!

I still don't know where I stand. I don't know if I believe that it happened or not!

I just wish none of this had ever happened, because whoever plays poor Tigger in the future will probably have to chase kids down for pictures! :p :hmmm

[crystalrp]

Originally posted by Park Hopper
Some of the complaints predate his employment, which started in August 2003, according to Disney.

This seems like an interesting statement.
The whole thing is just very sad.

[Metalfan]

24? Ha I bet 50 percent or more are BS. Sorry but people are greedy.

[Aggie96]

What a shame! This is just very sad!

[BDavis932]

:cry: :( :cry: :( :cry: :( :nooo: :cry: :nooo: :cry:

[tiggerlover1971]

wow I know the rob that was quoted in this article hm I am thinking I need to change my name I dont want to be associated with a child molestor