A costumed character actor once employed by several popular amusement parks — including New Jersey’s Six Flags Great Adventure and Sesame Place in Pennsylvania — has been arrested for creating and sharing child porn content, officials announced.
Don-Diego Parkman, 19, of Hamilton, is facing counts including aggravated sexual assault, manufacturing and possession of child sexual abuse material, endangering the welfare of a child among other related charges, the office of Acting Mercer County Prosecutor Theresa Hilton said in a statement on Tuesday.
An investigation into the matter was launched earlier this month, after law enforcement officials in Missouri alerted the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit and the New Jersey State Police ICAC Task Force to Parkman’s alleged illicit conduct with a minor in the area. Detectives claimed that “in addition to exchanging sexually-explicit messages and photos with the preteen girl, Parkman was directing her to take photos and videos of herself engaging in sexual conduct to send to him,” according to the statement from Hilton’s office.
A subsequent search of Parkman’s residence turned up multiple items of “evidentiary value” and he was taken into custody at that time.
According to the prosecutor’s office, Parkman has been working as a “costumed character and mascot” for several companies, including Somerset Baseball Partners and Devils Arena Entertainment over the course of the last year. He most recently worked 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 any questions should be directed to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.”
The prosecutor’s office said Parkman also worked at Six Flags, but in a statement to NBC Philadelphia, the amusement park said that while he was previously hired after he successfully passed a criminal background check, he “never actually worked.”
Officials have urged anyone with information about the case of misconduct carried out by Parkman Mercer County’s ICAC or the New Jersey ICAC Task Force tip line.