Family member outraged over July 4th sexual assault of child at Pittsburg public pool
A public speaker at the Pittsburg City Council meeting earlier this week demanded to know why city officials and police had failed to alert the public about an alleged sexual predator at a public pool following an alleged assault on a child more than a month ago.
On Monday, speaker David Manly said one of his young female relatives had been swimming at the municipal Buchanan Swim Center on the Fourth of July when a man pulled her under the water twice to penetrate the 11-year-old with his fingers.
"It appears to me that this has been given a low priority as there was no notification sent to the public. This predator is out there. He's molesting our children," Manly said to the City Council.
"I have to ask, by not going public, whose interest is being protected over the safety of our children?" he continued.
Manly went on to highlight his grievances that no notifications appeared to have been sent out to parents who were at the pool on July 4, nor were any distributed from the city nor the Pittsburg Police Department.
A reporter's trip to the closed swim center Wednesday confirmed there were no visible notices posted near the pool entrance. The Pittsburg Police Department's social media accounts had not published any notifications, and no press releases were distributed by the city.
"This happened on July 4, and as of today, I don't know if there's been an arrest," Manly added, wondering why it's a common practice to warn the public when there's a shark in the ocean but not when there's a human predator at a community pool.
Pittsburg City Manager Garrett Evans confirmed Wednesday that the Pittsburg Police Department is investigating the case -- interviewing people who were at the pool on July 4, reviewing videotape and cameras.
"We're reviewing all of our policies of all of our facilities," Evans said, further noting that he and Police Chief Steve Albanese would meet Thursday to also discuss policies pertaining to communication with the public.
