Park faulted for sex crimes

SANDUSKY — Three television news stations are reporting unsafe work conditions for employees who live in the Cedar Point dorms and work at the park. The stations — WTOL-TV in Toledo, WKYC-TV in Cleveland and WBNS-TV in Columbus — debuted a series on "the dark side" of Cedar Point, examining alleged sex crimes committed in the Cedar Point dormitories from 2017 to 2021. The Toledo station has been broadcasting reports at 11 p.m. daily since Monday, including interviews with alleged victims. The reporting includes information about public records requests the broadcast journalists sent to Cedar Point asking for incident reports from the park's police department. The park failed to comply with those requests, according to the TV news reports, the same as it did when the Register made similar requests last year. The Register filed a lawsuit against Cedar Point seeking records the park refused to release. The Toledo news station obtained 27 police reports provided by the Sandusky Police Department, which were also obtained by the Register. The reports range in severity, all occurring in the employee housing dorms. Twenty-one of those 27 reports involve cases already closed by Sandusky police, 12 of the reports involve rape allegations and nine deal with unwanted touching. Only one of the 21 closed cases resulted in charges. In the 20 other cases, charges were not pursued either due to victims not cooperating or the Erie County prosecutor's office's decided not to take the case based on lack of evidence and/or conflicting statements between victim and suspect, according to the reports. Three times accused WTOL-TV reported that only two employees were charged for sexual assault on Cedar Point's campus over the past five years. One of those offenders is Donelle Fowlkes, a man who was hired at Cedar Point twice and was twice accused of rape. Fowlkes, 28, was convicted in Erie County court of sexual battery and sentenced to three years in prison, where he remains today. Fowlkes was accused of raping a woman while she slept in 2018, and in 2019 he was accused and charged with the same crime. In the investigation report on Fowlkes' case, it's noted Sandusky detectives spoke with detectives from the Toledo police department, who informed them that Fowlkes and another man had been accused of raping an intoxicated female while she slept. A rape kit identified both men as suspects based on DNA. The other man was Fowlkes' roommate at Cedar Point in 2019, according to the police report. It is unclear what level of background checks Cedar Point performs in the hiring process and how thorough the employee records are and if they are reviewed. In an assault report from 2017, a woman accuses an employee of groping her in her dorm room. The officer notes in the report that when he spoke to Cedar Point police officers about the incident they stated they were familiar with the suspect and "have had similar calls with him before like this," the report states. There were no records provided of those other incidents by the park police. Deceiving park guests Cedar Point identifies its security force as a "police department," and it is affiliated with the Sandusky Police Department through a local ordinance. But it also claims it is merely a security force and does not have to adhere to professional standards such as providing public records or tracking crime or suspected crime that occurs in the park and its park-owned dormitories. Another case from 2017 involves a girl under 15 who was allegedly raped by an adult living in the dorms in December 2017. The girl told police she had lied to the 20 year old about her age and was the one to initiate the sex. Under the Ohio Revised Code, unlawful sexual conduct with a minor clearly prohibits any person "18 years of age or older shall (from) engag(ing) in sexual conduct with another ... when the offender knows the other person is 13 years of age or older but less than 16 years of age, or the offender is reckless in that regard." Prosecutors chose not to pursue the case given the minor's "lack of cooperation," and the 20-year-old man was never charged. Park officials don't respond Cedar Point did not answer questions submitted by the Register but responded with the same statement they gave to the TV news stations. "The safety of our guests and associates is always our top priority. Through a variety of methods, our on-site housing is monitored 24/7. In addition, our team is available to assist associates at any time with multiple resources, including on-site security, an emergency texting program, a dedicated and confidential associate 'Speak-Up Hotline' and access to mental health programs. Associates are made aware of these resources during their onboarding process," the statement states. "Cedar Point takes these matters very seriously. All reports of associate misconduct are immediately responded to, reviewed, and if appropriate, escalated to local law enforcement for further investigation." There are still six sexual assault cases from Cedar Point dorms that remain under investigation by Sandusky police. For comparison of campus rape rates, The Ohio State University reported 179 rapes in 2020 when they had an enrollment of 46,000 on their main campus. Ohio University reported 46 rapes in 2019 for an enrollment of 27,367. College campus sexual assaults, and sex crimes in general, are typically under-reported. According to Cedar Point's website, the park hired about 6,500 employees in the 2021 season. It's not clear how many of those resided in employee housing. Park officials refused to say how many employees live in dorms or apartments owned by the park.