Mother attacked in Royal Palm’s Commons Park
ROYAL PALM BEACH — A mother was attacked Sunday afternoon in a women’s bathroom at Royal Palm Beach’s Commons Park after refusing a man’s offer to pay her for sex, Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office records state.
Officials said Carlos Andresil, 20, admitted to hiding in a bathroom stall and waiting for the woman, who told authorities she was at the park off Royal Palm Beach Boulevard with her child.
Sheriff ’s records don’t indicate the child’s age or whether the child was with the mother during the alleged attack.
Andresil, who records show lives about a mile from the park, was arrested on attempted sexual battery and kidnapping charges. He is being held in the Palm Beach County Jail without the possibility of posting bail and cannot have contact with any child.
Andresil does not appear to have been arrested in Palm Beach County prior to Sunday.
Commons Park opened in March 2013. Built on the grounds of a failed golf course, the 167acre site — as big as Disneyland — is one of the largest parks in Palm Beach County, and its variety of picnic and recreation areas have proven popular with families from communities west of West Palm Beach. Most reports of crime over the past four years have dealt with issues such as car break-ins as opposed to violent crime.
The woman told sheriff’s authorities that Andresil repeatedly offered to pay her for sex and grabbed her when she tried to leave the bathroom. He forced
the woman into a stall and pressed himself against her, records state.
The woman said she screamed and hit Andresil as he stood behind her.
When authorities interviewed Andresil, he admitted to holding the woman against her will and added that he wanted to have sex with her, according to reports.
The typically quiet residential area near the park was the site of another sexual assault this summer, the sheriff ’s office said.
In July two women were brutalized in their home across the street from the park by three armed men. The men reportedly sexually assaulted one of the women, ransacked the home and stole one of the women’s cars.
As of Monday, no one had been arrested in the home invasion.