A man is facing charges after he allegedly groped an 11-year-old tourist while she was swimming in the pool of a Miami Beach hotel, police said.
Osvaldo Diaz, 68, of Miami, was arrested Monday on charges of lewd and lascivious battery on a child and burglary with assault or battery, an arrest report said.
Miami-Dade Corrections
Miami-Dade Corrections
Osvaldo Diaz
According to the report, the 11-year-old and her family are tourists from Sweden and were guests at a resort on Collins Avenue.
On Monday afternoon, the girl was swimming in the hotel pool with other guests when she said Diaz, who she doesn’t know, grabbed her buttocks, the report said.
She believed it was an accident and went underwater to avoid Diaz but he followed her then reached for her and grabbed her between the legs, the report said.
The girl got out of the pool and told her older siblings and parents what had happened and pointed out Diaz to her father, as Diaz then left the area and entered a neighboring hotel on Collins Avenue.
The father closely followed Diaz and confronted him before hotel security was alerted, the report said.
When security arrived, Diaz ran from the area but security kept an eye on him until police arrived and detained him.
Diaz told investigators he was at the pool with friends and had seen the girl but had no interaction with her, the report said.
The hotel manager confirmed Diaz wasn’t a guest of the hotel and wasn’t allowed to be in the pool area.
Diaz was booked into jail and later appeared before a judge, who ordered him held without bond.