Detective Keith Gittens with the Special Victim’s Unit was assigned to the case the morning of May 20th. It’s important to distinguish between an allegation of touching versus penetration as the latter results in a sexual battery charge, which carries a life sentence. Unfortunately, police immediately accepted the claims as fact, and confirmation bias was a factor in the children’s interviews.
This reduced the likelihood that the children knew each other and possibly made up the claim after discussing it at school, but it shouldn’t eliminate the need for a thorough investigation into these very serious allegations. This report was taken by Investigator Preston, also with the Broward Sheriff’s Office. The same details were described - that he touched her private parts inside her swimsuit. reported that their six-year-old daughter was inappropriately touched by a swim instructor. The next day, at a separate precinct, parents of six-year-old B.E. The officer then spoke privately to A.C., and she told him she was in the pool and a man touched her private parts inside her bathing suit, but there was no penetration. They told the officer about the alleged inappropriate touching described by their daughter. Officer Sobrino with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office responded and spoke first to the parents. called the police the evening of May 19th and reported that their daughter had been inappropriately touched by a swim coach that day. How could a child be abused in this setting with no one observing anything? The teachers were close by, keeping an eye on the students. The entire class would be watching, and waiting for their turn. They would then be turned around and directed back to the wall. As is typical with beginner swim lessons, the instructor would stand approximately five feet out and have the children take turns pushing off the wall and swimming toward them, often with the use of a kickboard. They would split the class in half so each instructor could work with approximately ten students at a time. He and another instructor worked with entire classes of students who were transported to the facility from their schools. The setting of the alleged abuse defies common sense. He had been working as an instructor/coach/lifeguard for the past ten years and had never received a single complaint. They are also subjected to frequent background checks. He was with the USA Swim Team where members are educated about the importance of avoiding any inappropriate contact. He told the detective that he took his coaching and lifeguard responsibilities seriously. He did not ask for an attorney at any time during the interview.
De Aragon maintained his position that he had never inappropriately touched a child and agreed to submit a DNA specimen. Detective Gittens lied and told him that he had DNA evidence to support the allegations. He informed the detective that he had never been accused of anything of this nature and was a law abiding citizen with nothing more than a speeding ticket on his record. He was outraged and vehemently denied the accusations. He was shocked when police informed him that he had been accused of inappropriately touching two six-year-old girls during their swim lessons the prior day. Then he was transferred to the police station, handcuffs and leg restraints were placed on him and he was interrogated.
There he sat for hours until police obtained probable cause to arrest him. Instead, a deputy arrived at his place of employment and detained him with no explanation. May 20th started out as a normal day, and he was looking forward to taking a short vacation with his wife, Savannah to visit family. Francisco “Fran” De Aragon, age twenty-six was working as a swim instructor at the Deerfield Beach Aquatic Center in 2015 when his world was turned upside down.