‘Tigger’ on trial for touching girl

A 13-YEAR-OLD girl testified that a Disney World character worker dressed as Tigger fondled her breast while she posed for a photo with him and her mother at the Magic Kingdom in Florida.

“I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to say,” the girl said during the first day of the Disney worker’s three-day trial on charges of lewd and lascivious molestation in Orlando.

Michael Chartrand, aged 36, rejected a plea deal that would have spared him prison time if convicted.

Prosecutor William Jay offered him probation and 50 hours of community service if he admitted a lesser charge. Under the terms, Chartrand also would have been banned from theme parks and required to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation.

Chartrand now faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Jay disputed claims that Chartrand didn’t know where he was placing his hands because of the bulkiness of the costume’s paws.

“He knew where his paws were,” Jay said.

The Tigger costume will be shown to jurors. Defence lawyer Jeffrey Kaufman, who also works part-time as a costumed character at Disney, said he expected jurors to handle the Tigger costume so they can see how difficult it would be to grope somebody inside it.