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Former Disney Character Rejects Plea Agreement
POSTED: 11:46 am EDT August 2, 2004
UPDATED: 12:16 pm EDT August 2, 2004
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A Walt Disney World worker accused of touching a 13-year-old girl's breast while dressed in his Tigger costume at the Magic Kingdom rejected a plea agreement Monday that would have spared him prison time.
Prosecutor William Jay offered 36-year-old Michael Chartrand one year of probation and 50 hours of community service if he accepted the plea agreement for misdemeanor battery. Under the terms, Chartrand also would have been banned from theme parks and required to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation.
But Chartrand, who is charged with the second-degree felony of lewd and lascivious molestation and first-degree misdemeanor battery, rejected the offer. He could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
His attorney, Jeffrey Kaufman, didn't comment after the decision.
Chartrand was accused of touching the girl's breast while he posed for a picture with her and her mother last February at Mickey's Toon Town in the Magic Kingdom. After his arrest in April, other women filed complaints alleging the same conduct.
Disney suspended Chartrand without pay. A Disney lawyer recently suggested that the orange Tigger costume be dyed black or white and its ears removed if it is introduced as evidence at the trial, which began Monday.
Kaufman, who also works part-time as a costumed character at Disney, said he expected jurors to handle the costume so they can see how difficult it would be to grope somebody inside the bulky outfit.
Circuit Judge Bob Wattles agreed to allow 20 pictures of Chartrand, supposedly in costume, posing with Disney World visitors that Chartrand turned over to detectives. Kaufman objected to the use of the images, saying "a lot of those pictures aren't of my client."
But Jay said the images were important to refute likely defense arguments that the touching was accidental and that the girl's family wants a conviction to pursue a civil case against Disney.
"We're supposed to believe he doesn't know where his hands are and has no body control," Jay said before a jury was selected.
POSTED: 11:46 am EDT August 2, 2004
UPDATED: 12:16 pm EDT August 2, 2004
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A Walt Disney World worker accused of touching a 13-year-old girl's breast while dressed in his Tigger costume at the Magic Kingdom rejected a plea agreement Monday that would have spared him prison time.
Prosecutor William Jay offered 36-year-old Michael Chartrand one year of probation and 50 hours of community service if he accepted the plea agreement for misdemeanor battery. Under the terms, Chartrand also would have been banned from theme parks and required to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation.
But Chartrand, who is charged with the second-degree felony of lewd and lascivious molestation and first-degree misdemeanor battery, rejected the offer. He could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
His attorney, Jeffrey Kaufman, didn't comment after the decision.
Chartrand was accused of touching the girl's breast while he posed for a picture with her and her mother last February at Mickey's Toon Town in the Magic Kingdom. After his arrest in April, other women filed complaints alleging the same conduct.
Disney suspended Chartrand without pay. A Disney lawyer recently suggested that the orange Tigger costume be dyed black or white and its ears removed if it is introduced as evidence at the trial, which began Monday.
Kaufman, who also works part-time as a costumed character at Disney, said he expected jurors to handle the costume so they can see how difficult it would be to grope somebody inside the bulky outfit.
Circuit Judge Bob Wattles agreed to allow 20 pictures of Chartrand, supposedly in costume, posing with Disney World visitors that Chartrand turned over to detectives. Kaufman objected to the use of the images, saying "a lot of those pictures aren't of my client."
But Jay said the images were important to refute likely defense arguments that the touching was accidental and that the girl's family wants a conviction to pursue a civil case against Disney.
"We're supposed to believe he doesn't know where his hands are and has no body control," Jay said before a jury was selected.