A Miami Beach hotel is facing a new lawsuit after police said a man who wasn’t a hotel guest molested an 11-year-old girl who was visiting from Sweden last year.
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Osvaldo Diaz was arrested on charges of lewd and lascivious battery on a child and burglary with assault or battery in the alleged incident that happened at the Radisson Hotel at Collins Avenue and 43rd Street last October.
According to an arrest report, the girl was swimming in the hotel pool with other guests when she said Diaz, who she doesn’t know, grabbed her buttocks.
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.
In an interview from Sweden, the girl’s father said he ran after the man.
“I found him in the neighboring hotel, taking a shower, and then I was standing there, asking what he was doing until security and police came,” the father said.
Her mother said her daughter hasn’t been the same since the incident.
“She has been a very lively, and a happy girl, and to see her change from this, and to see her anxious, and alert and checking doors and checking windows,” the mother said.
“It’s tough to see a girl changing behavior and being way too often anxious,” the father said.
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The family’s attorney, Justin Shapiro, blames poor security at the Radisson.
“We believe this hotel had no security at that point and that is what invites crime like this,” Shapiro said.
“No, we did never see any security at that time, at any given time, actually,” the mother said.
NBC6 has reached out to the hotel and was waiting for a response.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday morning in Miami-Dade, is seeking damages from the hotel and Diaz in excess of $15 million.
Among the claims in the suit are that the hotel was negligent in “failing to adopt and implement reasonable security measures” and “failing to discover that Mr. Diaz entered the Subject Resort and the Subject Pool area as a trespasser.”
The family is also hoping to bring the issues to light so it doesn’t happen again.
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Diaz, 69, is still in jail awaiting trial.