ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A registered sex offender exposed himself to a child while at SeaWorld's Aquatica water park earlier this month, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
The victim said she was at the dolphin viewing area inside the park on Feb. 9 with her siblings and father when she turned around to see Gerald Youmans, 52, sitting on a bench behind her while exposing himself, the report said.
Deputies said the victim immediately told her father and he confronted Youmans as he was exiting the park. The victim's father provided deputies with photos and video showing him confronting Youmans and Youmans' license plate, records show.
A search found that Youmans is a registered sex offender who is a gold annual pass holder at Aquatica.
"The safety of our guests and team members is our top priority. While we don’t discuss all of our security measures for safety reasons, our security staff is trained to recognize, respond and report any suspicious behavior of individuals that could potentially pose a risk to the safety and security of the park, our team members and of course, our guests. We also work closely with local, state and federal law enforcement to ensure that we are up-to date-on any potential threats to the safety of our park or guests and to make sure that we respond timely and appropriately to those potential threats," a SeaWorld spokesperson said.
Youmans was arrested Saturday on a charge of lewd and lascivious conduct.
Records show that Youmans' sexual predator status stems from an incident in 2004 in which he exposed himself to a female child. In that case, authorities said the girl was in the front seat as Youmans was driving and he instructed her to pull down his shorts, then to also pull her clothing to the side.
Youmans is being held at the Orange County Jail.