Parents are outraged after a youth lock-in at Typhoon Texas was abruptly shut down early Saturday morning.
The church-based lock-in was reportedly scheduled to end at 6 a.m. Saturday.
However, parents said kids were told to leave the water park at around 1 a.m. due to unruly behavior.
Viewer video: Large crowd at Typhoon Texas
Pastor Parris Patrick, with Agape Community Bible Church, was there with his youth group.
“I got my group of kids in the lazy river. That’s when we saw kids jumping the fence to get in. They were shoving their way through the ticket gate. It was pretty clear there was going to be a problem,” said Patrick. “Synthetic marijuana was there. Weed was there. We saw open acts of sexual assault. Open lewd acts. They were assaulting the life guards. I saw one of the lifeguards get dragged under the water.”
Patrick also said his own daughter was hit in the head.
The General Manager of Typhoon Texas, Evan Barnett, explained what happened to KHOU 11 News Saturday afternoon.
He said the event was planned by a third party.
Texas Typhoon management ultimately decided to close the waterpark, because some of the teenagers were not listening to authority.
“We did have a lot of people, individuals in our facility, that were in the lazy river and our wading pool and other attractions themselves. There were some individuals that were not abiding by our code of conduct,” said Barnett.
The general manager said they had four security officers working in the park and in their parking lot. Some were off-duty Katy police officers. The off-duty officers called for back-up, and on-duty Katy police officers responded.
He said kids were given the option of waiting near front of entry gate, inside the park, or in the parking lot with security officers and police present. No kids were kicked off the property.
Barnett confirmed he has heard rumors that women were sexually abused during the event.
“No one has come to me directly saying that their clothes and/or they were groped,” said Barnett.
The Katy Police Department said there were no reports of sexual assaults and no arrests.
However, parents said they were disappointed by how the event unfolded.
“You know, it really bothered us because we thought it was just an outing for the churches. Normally you’d think your child is really safe,” said Steve Kuperman, whose daughter attended the lock-in.
“We had kids there that were not only from our church, but from our community, who would have greatly benefited from hearing spiritual stories of how God can come into the life of a person you wouldn’t think is lovable. But Jesus loves us all,” said Patrick.
“Instead, on the way home, I heard stories of ‘I never want to go back, I had the worst experience of my life, I felt unsafe.’ I just think it wasn’t what I wanted for my youth group.” he said.
Typhoon Texas released the following statement Saturday afternoon:
“Last night a private event was held at Typhon Texas as planned by a third party. When our code of conduct policies were violated by some attendees with the group, action was taken to prevent accidents and keep guests safe, and the park was closed. Our staff and cleaning crews worked throughout the night to get the park ready for normal operations. Typhoon Texas is open today and ready for safe, clean, family fun. We put those values before ALL else.”