SANIBEL, Fla. — *WARNING! THIS STORY CONTAINS DETAILS THAT MIGHT BE DISTURBING FOR SOME VIEWERS*
UPDATE 6:00 P.M.:
A former Sanibel Recreation Center aide was arrested, and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office says she’s charged with sexual battery of a minor. The city manager tells Fox 4 nothing in the suspect's background check raised any red flags that something like this could happen.
Watch to hear details about the investigation, what the Sanibel City Manager said about the arrest:
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office says Krystal Hurd was arrested after a five-year investigation involving several victims she met while working at the Sanibel Recreation Center nearly two decades ago.
Neighbors who spend time at the center told Fox 4 the news is hard to hear. “It’s pretty shocking and very concerning,” said one neighbor. “I’d say it’s a good family space, so that’s why this news is very unnerving and surprising to hear what happened,” said another.
Sanibel City Manager Dana Souza says the city is feeling that same shock. “We’re really very shaken by it, and we’re very saddened to learn that,” said Souza.
Investigators say the abuse happened between 2008 and 2014. Court records say Hurd groomed and manipulated four children -one man and three women - who were in their 20s when they came forward.
“She was defined as a part-time, as-needed employee. So she wasn’t a full-time member of our staff, but participated in programs,” said Souza.
The man told detectives he went through years of inappropriate contact starting when he was 11. He told deputies Hurd pressured him to engage in sexual acts several times at hotels and her home. Other victims told detectives Hurd forced them to commit sexual acts on each other.
Souza says Hurd went through a background check before she was hired. “There was nothing that would have been in this individual’s background that would have prevented them from being employed,” said Souza.
The city sent a letter to parents on Wednesday after news of the arrest. The letter highlights strict hiring practices, including FBI-level background checks and child safety training for all staff.
“We review our protocols anyways on a regular basis, but I know that our recreation director this morning has been doing a lot of that just to make sure everything is tight,” said Souza.
Hurd was arrested in Punta Gorda and is expected back in a Lee County courtroom on Thursday. Fox 4 will be there to bring you the latest on this investigation.
ORIGINAL REPORTING:
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office arrested a former Sanibel Recreation aide, now charged with sexual battery of a minor. New court documents reveal that there are multiple victims involved.
According to the report, there are four victims, including a 23-year-old man and three 22-year-old women. These were their ages at the time of the criminal report. Fox 4 is not releasing their names because they are victims of a sex crime.
The Lee County Sheriff’s Offic said Krystal Hurd committed the crimes between November 19, 2008, and November 18, 2014.
The case started on September 16, 2020, when the Sheriff’s Office said it got a call from the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.
Documents said Charlotte County deputies responded to a call about a domestic disturbance involving Hurd and her husband.
The report said it was about Hurd being accused of “sleeping” with someone years ago.
Later, the report said Hurd’s mother-in-law asked to speak to Charlotte County deputies.
The mother-in-law told detectives that she was recently contacted by the first victim, who said Hurd sexually battered him as a child.
According to the mother-in-law, the victim told her that Hurd abused him starting when he was 12-years-old and continued until he was 19.
She said the first and second victims lived with Hurd and her husband for several years, but that they initially met when the Hurds were employed at the Recreation Center.
Due to the nature of the call, the Special Victims Unit with LCSO was asked to get involved.
Investigators started with an interview with the first victim, the 23-year-old man. The report said he identified three other victims—the women—who may have also been victimized.
When deputies contacted them, the report said they disclosed sexual abuse.
According to the documents, detectives talked to the man on September 16, 2020.
He said he first met Hurd and her husband in fifth grade, when the couple worked as counselors at the Rec Center.
“Victim 1 disclosed when he first began spending time with Krystal, it was a common practice for her to make fun of his tattered and worn clothing,” the report said. “As time progressed, Krystal purchased and dressed him in significantly nicer clothing than he was accustomed to wearing.”
The report said Hurd had a fascination with a professional skater and told the victim to grow his hair out like his.
He said the sexual incidents began when he was 11-years-old and Hurd was visiting from North Carolina.
“Victim 1 and Krystal were in a hotel room with some additional children when she inquired who wanted to ‘share a fry with her.’ Each of the children would put one end of a French fry in their mouth and the other end in another child’s mouth,” the report said.
The man said one sexual incident happened at a home in Fort Myers and another in Lake County on a different date. Other assaults, he told detectives, happened in various hotels, parking lots, and later at Hurd’s home in Lee County multiple times.
“Victim 1 was told by Krystal that they would be together once he was 18-years-old and that they would get married,” the report said.
Detectives later spoke with two other victims who live outside Lee County.
The Sheriff’s Office interviewed the second victim, a 22-year-old woman, in Seminole County. According to the report, she told detectives that Hurd directed her and the first victim to perform sexual acts on each other when they were 16-years-old, though both said they did not want to.
The woman said Hurd remained in the room when this happened.
Detectives then interviewed the third victim, another 22-year-old woman, in Georgia on October 2, 2020.
She told the Sheriff’s Office that she met Hurd at the Sanibel Recreation Center, where Hurd worked as a counselor.
The City of Sanibel told Fox 4 that Hurd was a part-time Rec aide from September 20, 2005, to April 19, 2009.
The woman told the Sheriff’s Office that Hurd directed her to engage in inappropriate contact with another child who was affiliated with them.
“Krystal took a particular interest in a group of children and would pay special attention to them, providing privileges that the other children didn’t get,” the victim told detectives.
The victim said she believed Hurd focused her time on them because their parents “weren’t highly involved in their lives.”
“Victim 3 explained that although Krystal never physically forced her to participate in the incidents, she felt she didn’t have another choice and was compelled to because Krystal would manipulate her and the other victims,” the documents said.
On October 20, 2020, the Sheriff’s Office spoke with the fourth victim, who lives in Lee County. She told detectives that she interacted with Hurd at the Recreation Center from 9 to 11-years-old.
In the report, it said Hurd forced this victim to kiss another boy she did not want to.
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said it conducted a forensic download and analyzed digital devices during the investigation. The documents said that evidence included videos of the victims in a provocative manner.
Investigators said that along with witness statements and supporting documentation, this evidence led to Hurd being charged with sexual battery in a familial or custodial role. She was arrested in Punta Gorda on Oct. 16.
Hurd is expected to be back in a Lee County courtroom on Oct. 22 for a pre-trial detention.
