Deputies: Stranger asked girl to come to her ‘secret place’

A Seminole County woman is facing a stalking charge after deputies say she approached a 9-year-old girl she did not know, asked her to come to a “secret place” and hugged her.

The girl told deputies she first saw Karina Geiersbach, 21, on Dec. 25, when Geiersbach approached her in the girl’s Altamonte Springs neighborhood and wished her a merry Christmas.

After that, the child said she began seeing Geiersbach every day as she walked to school, according to an arrest report.

She told deputies Geiersbach approached her while she was walking with her brother Jan. 10 and asked her to come to a “secret place.” The child’s brother told the girl to refuse, but she began walking away with Geiersbach, according to an arrest report.

When the brother asked the girl to come back, Geiersbach ran toward him and told him to “mind his business,” then told the girl she did not have to listen to her brother, a report said.

The brother told the girl she was not walking with Geiersbach and the two children walked home.

The next day, the girl was helping her mother take down the Christmas tree when she noticed Geiersbach pacing in front of her home, authorities said.

Deputies say the child walked outside and Geiersbach hugged her.

When the child told Geiersbach she was uncomfortable, the woman said, “You don’t have to be uncomfortable, it’s not like I’m going to take you or kidnap you,” according to court documents.

The child’s mother saw Geiersbach walk into an abandoned home and called the Sheriff ’s Office. Geiersbach told deputies she didn’t know the family, and wanted the girl to “be in a play with her,” deputies said.

Geiersbach was arrested on battery and aggravated stalking charges. She has since bonded out of the Seminole County Jail.