A costume actor once employed by several popular theme parks—including New Jersey’s Six Flags Great Adventure and Pennsylvania’s Sesame Place— has been arrested to create and share child pornography content, officials announced.
Don Diego Parkman19, of Hamilton, faces charges including aggravated sexual assault, manufacturing and possession of child sexual abuse material, endangering the welfare of a child among other related charges, Acting Mercer County Prosecutor Theresa Hilton said in a statement Tuesday.
An investigation into the case began earlier this month, after Missouri law enforcement officials alerted the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit and the New Jersey State Police ICAC Task Force that Parkman’s alleged unlawful conduct with a minor in the area. Detectives alleged that “in addition to exchanging sexually explicit messages and photos with the young girl, Parkman encouraged her to take photos and videos of herself engaging in sexual behavior to send to him,” according to the statement from Hilton’s office.
A subsequent search warrant at Parkman’s residence turned up several items of “evidential value” and he was taken into custody at that time.
According to the prosecutor’s office, Parkman has worked as a “costumed character and mascot” for several companies, including Somerset Baseball Partners and Devils Arena Entertainment over the past year. He worked last time at Sesame Place in Langhorne, Penn.
“Parkman is no longer employed by Sesame Place“, Sesame Place told ABC 6. “His arrest is not related to Sesame Place, and all questions should be directed to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.”
Prosecutors said Parkman also worked at Six Flags, but in a statement to NBC Philadelphia, the theme park said that while he was former employee after successfully passing a criminal background check, “he never actually worked.”
Officials have urged anyone with information about the misconduct case to be handled by Parkman Mercer County’s ICAC or the New Jersey ICAC Task Force tip line.