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Perv Out Of Water: Man Convicted Of Lewd Acts In Wave Pool

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Photo by Ishmael Oredain via Flickr

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32-year-old Albert Omar Martinez of Downey was convicted Monday of lewd acts upon a teenage girl for rubbing up against the unsuspecting victim at Knott's Berry Farm's Soak City Tidal Wave water attraction in 2009, reports the OC Register.

Martinez, who now faces a potential term of three years and four months in prison, was also convicted of "attempted lewd acts" for trying the same maneuver with a different teenage girl on the same day, according to prosecutors.

Deputy District Attorney Mark Birney said parents of the two girls pulled their daughters from the Tidal Wave pool after they became concerned about Martinez's activities in the water close to the girls. One of the victims, a 15-year-old girl, said Martinez rubbed up against her as the waves pushed them back and forth. Security guards at the attraction then detained Martinez for Buena Park police.

A Buena Park detective served as a key witness testifying that Martinez was committing frottage, a "furtive rubbing up against an unsuspecting victim for the purpose of sexual arousal," notes the OC Register. The defense argued that if "inadvertent touching" occurred it was accidental and caused by the motion of the wave pool. Martinez is set to be sentenced on June 17.

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