The Orlando Sentinal reports that a Mountlake Terrace man was arrested for molesting a 13 year-old boy:

Deputies said Thomas, the suspect in the latest incident at Typhoon Lagoon, is visiting Orlando from Mountlake Terrace, Wash. with a 15-year-old boy. The teenager told investigators Thomas had sexually molested him in the past, Sgt. Rich Mankewich of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said.

Mankewich said Friday that Thomas is facing an additional count of sexual battery on a child because of his molestation of the boy, who is now in the custody of the Department of Children and Families and will be returned to his mother.

“There are some concerns about how [Thomas] gained custody of this teenager,” DCF spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner said. “Investigators already have spoken to the child’s mother and she indicated she wanted custody of her child.”

She added, in an email, that DCF has “been in communication with our counterparts in the State of Washington and understand there is some history with the family there that we need to explore further.”

Reports show the teenager’s mother allowed her son to live with Thomas, a family friend, for a year because he was doing poorly in school.

“He had been grooming this child for the past five years,” said Mankewich.

Thomas admitted to touching boys at Typhoon Lagoon as an “experiment” because he was “curious.” He offered to write letters of apology to the children he is accused of molesting.

Thomas also told investigators he was a victim of molestation when he was child.

Read the entire article at the Orlando Sentinal.