Why Were 7 Men Accused Of Groping Girls At Water Park Released Without Charges?
PLACER COUNTY (CBS13) — Seven men have been released from the Placer County Jail, after being accused of groping underage girls at a water park in Roseville.
The men have not been charged with a crime, so far. They are due back in court on June 27.
The men, aged from 18 to 38, were arrested after being accused of groping more than a dozen young girls on Monday, at Roseville Golfland Sunsplash.
Their release is making waves around the Sacramento region.
The Placer County DA says he doesn't have hard evidence to charge the men, but they are reviewing the video evidence and statements ahead of the next court date.
Fifth-grade students from Stockton spent their Thursday at the water park, and one mom chaperoning says she's appalled the men were released.
"We come out here for a good time; we come here for a reason and to have fun, and clean fun. This is just too close to home," said Nicole Arreguin.
She was chaperoning her son's class field-trip at the park on Thursday. Her eyes were peeled like a hawk, after hearing the seven men accused of groping young girls at the same water park on Monday were released.
"That's scary, it's horrifying," Arreguin said.
The men were accused of crowding around several young girls at the park, then touching them inappropriately.
"Can the case be proven beyond a reasonable doubt? That's what the DA is going to look at," said former prosecutor Alin Cintean.
He says the evidence Roseville police had to arrest the suspects wasn't enough to keep them behind bars. Cintean says under the current law, anyone arrested must be released within 48 hours if the DA doesn't have hard evidence to charge them.
"Sometimes in a public place with hundreds of people, that's difficult," Cintean added.
He adds a case like this one with multiple suspects takes longer to build.
Since Monday's incident, Roseville police say more than a dozen victims have been identified, and the challenge now, is to link who did what, to whom.
"We don't know who said what, we don't know what point of view the witnesses had, how many witnesses are there, the angle of the cameras," Cintean listed off.
Placer County's assistant DA tells CBS13, "We not only need to prove that a crime was committed, we must also prove beyond a reasonable doubt who committed that crime."
The DA's office is now working with Roseville police to get video surveillance from the water park. The incident is a reminder to report anything suspicious immediately to security and police.
