An Oklahoma woman who was arrested at a local pool for allegedly groping two children told police that she grabbed the kids because she was trying to save herself from drowning.
According to Law&Crime, 28-year-old Kayla R. Lena was taking into custody and charged with two counts of lewd and indecent acts with children under the age of 16.
Court documents state that on June 30, Lena “knowingly and intentionally looked upon, touched, mauled, or felt the body or private parts” of two boys, ages 12 and 13, “in a lewd and lascivious manner calculated to arouse and excite.”
The alleged crime took place at the Eagle Harbor Aquatic Center in Oklahoma City.
Specifically, the court documents states that Lena was “touching and grabbing” the victims inappropriately while “moaning” and “calling [the boys] Daddy.”
“According to the victims, they stated while they were in the pool that the suspect grabbed them inappropriately, made several inappropriate statements to them, and then at one point also attempted to remove some of their clothing, exposing them out into the public area,” Del City Police Public Information Officer Maj. Brad Cowden said in a news briefing posted online by Oklahoma City Fox affiliate KOKH.
Authorities say that Lena had targeted the same two victims over several days.
“In talking to the victims, they stated that it did occur on more than one occasion, over multiple days involving the same suspect and victims, but there were no witnesses to it from the previous instances, and it was reported on that day and we obviously had a lot of witnesses that observed it at that time,” he said.
Lifeguards said Lena followed the boys around the pool and could be seen touching them. At that point, lifeguards removed Lena from the pool and the police eventually responded to a 911 call from the victims.
“She denied doing any of the things that people had observed her doing, or that were alleged to have occurred,” Cowden said. “She did state at one point that she did grab one of the juveniles, but it was because she thought she was drowning and was going to use the juvenile to pull herself up.”
Lena was booked into the Oklahoma County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bond. She was no longer in detention as of Thursday, online records show.
