COLUMBUS, Ohio — A summer getaway for one family ended in a nightmare after a mother said her young daughter was sexually assaulted at a campground in Delaware County.
The mom said camping was one of her 8-year-old daughter’s favorite things to do up until August. 10TV is withholding the mother’s name to protect the identity of her daughter.
“This is not something that ever crossed your mind or worry about,” she said. “When you go camping, you are out in nature. You can be free, is what I used to think. You are safe. That's what I used to think.”
While camping at Alum Creek State Park last month, her daughter asked to play at the playground with two other kids. The mom said she let her daughter go because the playground was next to their camping site.
“I looked away and my husband looked away for a moment and we looked back and she was gone, and so were the children. Immediately I panicked,” she said.
They searched, and other campers searched as well.
The mom said they finally found her on a path with a 12-year-old boy and a younger girl.
They immediately took her home.
“She stayed up all night and told us this horror story of what happened to her in that period of time,” the mom explained.
Though some details are too disturbing to share, the mom said the boy kissed her daughter and sexually assaulted her.
She called the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to investigate and took her daughter to Nationwide Children’s Hospital to be checked out.
In a statement, ODNR said, "The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is working with the Delaware County Prosecutor at this time regarding a reported assault which happened August 17 at Alum Creek State Park."
The mom says her daughter hasn't been the same since the alleged incident.
“I do know that she has been wetting the bed and has lost her bowels a couple of times," she said. "She doesn't sleep very well. She has nightmares."
She said she came forward because she wanted to warn other parents.
“My daughter was brave enough to tell us right away. If I keep it a secret and I let other children be hurt because these people are loose. There's someone else's kid who is at risk,” she said.
So far, no charges have been filed.