
Five children were touched inappropriately by a fellow pool patron at the MIT Barrie Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center this week.
According to reports, the incident occurred during morning rec swim and authorities are looking for a man in his mid-thirties, last seen wearing a lime green shirt.
The Zesiger Center features two pools, one large competition pool for lap swimming and one smaller instructional pool. To enter the pool, members must swipe a card for access, but police have not released any information gathered from this data or security cameras. The children were swimming laps when they were assaulted by the man.
RELATED: Woman Charged with Groping Kids at Pool Says She was Trying to Save Herself From Drowning
"MIT takes reports of this kind seriously. As a father and MIT community member, I am deeply troubled by this report and am committed to protecting the safety of all who use our facilities, particularly children," Anthony Grant, MIT director of athletics, said to WCBV 5.
In the wake of the incident, MIT officials have posted information around their facilities and added a buffer lane between adult swimmers and youth swimmers.
“We are committed to protecting the safety of the children and all others who use our facilities,” Grant said.
In interviews with CBS News, Boston, other pool-goers expressed concerns about bringing their children to the pool and posed questions to MIT officials about what actions will be taken once the man is caught.
This incident is the second of it’s kind to hit the news recently, as last month an Oklahoma woman was arrested for groping children in a public pool as well. At the time, the 28-year-old claimed she was trying to save herself from drowning.
She was charged with two counts of lewd and indecent acts with children under the age of 16.
Unlike this most recent occurrence at MIT, the woman in last week’s incident has been arrested. Meanwhile, MIT police are actively investigating this incident, looking for the accused man and no other information has been released at this time. Anyone with any information is encouraged to contact the MIT police.