YORK COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) — A Newport News man is accused of committing sexual battery against three girls and a woman at Water Country earlier this week.
WAVY’s Chopper 10 showed where all the alleged crimes took place in the Water Country Wave Pool on Monday.
Sheriff Ron Montgomery with the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office said his office received a complaint around 3:45 p.m. Monday that an unknown male had inappropriately touched three girls and a woman in the wave pool area of the park.
Montgomery said his office worked with security staff and were able to identify the suspect, 29-year-old Ziaulhaq Faqiri. He was arrested on Thursday and charged with felony aggravated sexual battery and three counts of misdemeanor sexual battery. Faqiri’s currently in the Newport News City Jail.
10 On Your Side spoke with the father of two of the victims.
“My kids were at Water Country with a 19-year-old family member, and a man was in the Wave Pool,” the father said. “And he grabbed my 11-year-old daughter’s butt, but they moved around. He followed her, touched her again. He then touched my daughter’s thigh, ran it up the back of her leg. He touched the 19-year-old. He touched another girl.”
The father of two of the victims, who are 11 and 16 years old, said his daughters immediately went to a lifeguard for help.
“The lifeguard said, ‘We’re going to move him out of the pool,’ and they said, ‘No! That is not good enough,’” the father said.
However, he said the suspect wasn’t caught until one of the victims spotted him while they were leaving the park.
“They were leaving the park, and they were sitting at the front gate and the guy came walking out,” the father added. “Walking out with a group of people trying to blend in … and they pointed him out … they have been taught since they were little do not let anyone touch you.”
The father said he’s furious because the sheriff’s office let the suspect go at first after questioning him. He wasn’t arrested until three days after the incident.
“But my question is, why was he arrested and let go? If he did that in broad daylight to kids in a public setting? I wonder what was he doing at home? What was he doing to the kids in his neighborhood? He groped. You do bump into somebody in a Wave Pool, but he grabbed my 11-year-old’s butt twice, and that is not an accident. When you tell a guard something needs to be done.”
Sheriff Montgomery said he would look into the situation.
“What I am trying to find out is what my deputy up there knows and what happened Monday. Did it rise to the level of him being taken into custody at that point? If so, then I‘ll address it.”
Look for more coverage from WAVY’s Andy Fox later today.
