Teenager Sues Tarpon Springs Haunted House After 2010 Assault

The family of a 16-year-old girl is suing the operator of a Tarpon Springs haunted house, alleging the company violated child labor laws and didn't provide enough security, which contributed to a sexual battery that has left the girl traumatized.

The teenager and her family, who have not been named to protect the girl's identity, filed suit against ScareCo and patron Richard Carter of Palm Harbor, who was charged with groping and assaulting teens playing characters in the downtown haunted house in 2010, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

"As far as the family's concerned, they got very little satisfaction out of that criminal case," John D. Fernandez, an attorney representing the girl, told the Times. 

Police said Carter "appeared to be drunk when he fondled three girls, forced a kiss on one of them, shook another person's head and struck a teen in the stomach at the haunted house," the Times reports. He pleaded guilty to three felony counts of child abuse and two misdemeanor battery charges and got five years' probation and mandatory alcohol counseling.

A representative of ScareCo, which plans to reopen the haunted house this year at a different location to be determined, dismisses some of the lawsuit's accusations, the Times reports.

Read more in the Times' story.