Police: Man groped girls, 11 and 15, in Wild Waves wave pool

A man groped two young girls – one under her bathing suit – last weekend at Wild Waves, police said.

The 37-year-old was arrested Saturday, July 18, by off-duty Federal Way police officers after investigators received two written statements from the young girls.

“I knew it wasn’t an accident because his hand went under my bathing suit and he grabbed it for a few minutes and saw that he was doing it to other young girls as well,” wrote one of the girls, 15. “I felt very violated and uncomfortable around him.”

Police said the incident happened in the wave pool, which starts with about a foot of water and increases to about six feet near a stage area. Wild Waves security, which wears bright blue short-sleeved shirts, alerted the off-duty officers after being contacted by one of the girls and the other girl’s mother.

Investigators said the other victim is 11.

She told police the water was to her neck when the man approached.

“I felt very alarmed in how he grabbed me,” the girl wrote.

The suspect’s family said his native language is Bengali, and police contacted an interpreter to read him his rights. After three attempts, the man said he didn’t understand, according to investigation documents, and the officer who drove him to King County Jail did ask questions.

The suspect was released Monday afternoon and hasn’t been charged. Prosecutors are expected to rush file charges this week.

He does not appear to have a criminal history in Washington, with his only other court dates being traffic-related.

Wild Waves Theme Park in Federal Way opened in 1977 as Enchanted Village, which expanded to include the water park in 1984. It was owned by Six Flags, but the company sold to CNL Income Properties in 2007.

“Wild Waves Theme Park takes any reported incident extremely seriously and has systems in place to protect the safety of our guests,” Todd Suchan, Wild Waves Theme Park’s general manager, said in a statement. “As soon as our security was notified, they responded immediately and called our onsite Federal Way police officers who ultimately arrested the suspect. The police have our full cooperation as this investigation moves forward.”

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