Man accused of groping swimmers at Typhoon Lagoon says it was 'misunderstanding'

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A man who was arrested and is accused of inappropriately touching multiple people in the wave pool at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon bonded out of jail Monday night.

Perry Stiles, 54, was arrested Sunday on charges of battery and lewd molestation after he allegedly groped four people, including a child, at the park.

Styles talked about the charges after he bonded out of the Orange County jail.

"Nobody made me aware that they felt violated in the waves. I didn't know that until afterwards. I don't know who my accusers are," Stiles said.

An arrest report said the victims told investigators they "felt someone grab the underside of our butts," and one of the victims said it felt like it was an "opened-handed grab and squeeze."

Many tourists told Eyewitness News they were surprised to learn of Stiles' arrest at the water park.

"That's the last thing on your mind, but it could happen anywhere," visitor Gary Kurczy said.

According to the report, witnesses said the man did not appear to lose his balance and had plenty of room to get around the people without touching them.

"Children are by the pool themselves, it's a perfect opportunity," another visitor, Lynn Taylor, said.

Investigators said deputies escorted Stiles, who is from Kissimmee, to a trailer on Typhoon Lagoon property for questioning.

"It upsets me to think that there would be child predators in a place like Disney World or Wet 'n Wild or Universal Studios," Kurczy said. "You would think that an environment would be safe like that for your child."

Stiles said it was a misunderstanding in the midst of a crashing wave.

"Bodies fly in a 10-foot wave. Anything I did was accidental and unintentional and I'm unaware of what I've done," he said.

Although Stiles is not a registered sex offender, several tourists said they wanted to know if Disney checks if park visitors are in the national sex offender database.

Eyewitness News reached out to Disney officials, who said they can't publicly discuss the park's security measures.

In 2013, 9 Investigates found out Disney had issued trespass warnings to 75 people in about six months who were all on sex offender registries.

WFTV