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Background: During a day at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, you can see Cinderella Castle and Main Street, U.S.A. The photo was taken on Wednesday, August 12, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP). Inset: Jorge Diaz-Vega (Orange County Sheriff’s Office).
Jorge Diaz-Vega, aged 28, was arrested in the spring of 2023 after being accused of capturing an inappropriate image of a 14-year-old girl while working at a Disney World souvenir shop. This incident marked the start of his legal troubles, as the girl’s family has now filed a lawsuit against both him and his employer.
The family argues that the company had an opportunity to stop Diaz-Vega’s misconduct before the incident on March 30, 2023, because he had been caught in the act by a female coworker. However, they claim that Disney did not carry out a thorough investigation into his actions.
He allegedly admitted to Orange County, Florida, deputies in a post-Miranda interview on March 31, 2023 that he had been doing this at the Disney World theme parks for the approximately six years that he worked for them.
“Whenever Diaz saw a female he wanted to record, he would drop his hand sanitizer on the floor, and he would video record ‘candid shots’ up their dress,” documents stated. “Diaz estimated he had 600 videos on his phone, which were stored in the phone’s gallery,” deputies wrote. He confessed to once recording a female relative, though he claimed he deleted it and never did that again.
But he allegedly did it on March 30, 2023, to the 14-year-old girl at a store in the “Star Wars” section of Disney’s Hollywood Studios park, where he worked. While ostensibly showing the victim and her sibling how to use a toy, he used it as cover to put his phone under skirt and take either a picture or recording, documents state. The girl, however, managed to catch him, the lawsuit stated.
In his March 31, 2023, interview with authorities, Diaz-Vega allegedly confessed to his illicit behavior, and said that the last time he did something similar was that very day.
“I know what I did was wrong and I do not mean to cause any harm,” he wrote in an apology letter, according to sheriff’s documents. “I have autism and the times I was doing it I didn’t know the consequences.”
Diaz-Vega allegedly did it again at a Publix in Osceola County on June 5, 2023. Deputies there claim that a couple caught him taking an upskirt video of the woman. Initially unclear as to what happened, but suspicious, the couple followed him around until they saw him do it to another woman, according to documents. The first woman yelled at him, and her husband stopped him from leaving.
“I have been fired for this before,” Diaz-Vega allegedly said. “Please don’t call the police. I promise I will delete the pictures.”
He has pleaded not guilty to video voyeurism charges in both counties. Disney did not immediately respond to a Law&Crime request for comment.
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