Suspected Maturbator Set Free

As a reporter, I've seen and heard just about everything. 

There are often so many gross elements in the stories that we cover, that good taste often dictates that we spare you, our viewers, the dirty details. 

There is one story that I covered this week that really disturbed me, as a parent.  It was the story about the guy who was allegedly masturbating in a bathroom at the Milwaukee Public Museum.  Here's what happened:

A group of sixth grade boys on a school field trip went to use a bathroom just off the museum's main concourse.  That's the area open to the public.  When the kids got inside the bathroom, they say they noticed feet in a stall surrounded by porn magazines on the floor.  The boys told this to a parent chaperone who investigated.  Not only were the boys telling the truth, she told me, but she could hear the man in the stall moaning.  It was pretty clear what he was up to.  Security was called, but the guy got away.

Museum officials were mortified, but helpful.  They released a surveillance picture of the suspect, and were just as relieved as the rest of us when the guy was spotted and arrested within a day.  But here's the kicker:

The police had to let the suspect go.  They couldn't charge him with anything, because no one actually saw him "doing the do".

I mean, really.

Tens of thousands of school children visit our museum every year.  My own child will be heading their with her class in March.  And if you know anything about kids on a field trip, you know that it takes real effort to keep track of all of them.  And the younger the children, the more likely some of them will have to have to "go potty".

The museum has taken steps to beef up security in its public areas.  Still, this story is a stark reminder to all adults that you have to be extra vigilant with kids in public places.  What if this guy... or another deviant like him... decides to hole himself up in a corner of a bathrom again? Or some other out of the way place?

What happens if the pervert grows tired of porn magazines, and targets a child?  You know as well as I do that it happens.

I don't mean to sound like I'm dumping on the museum.  It is a safe, wonderful and terrifically educational place to bring children.

But parents please... as you head there or any other public place, do not have a false sense of security.

Danger lurks in the most unexpected places.  

And when the law can't protect your child, you'd better be sure you are protecting them yourself.