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David Rigoulot sentenced for improperly touching eight-year-old in bathroom stall

At a certain age, kids want to go to public restrooms unaccompanied. But parents always worry about bad things happening there -- and the story of David Rigoulot illustrates why. Rigoulot has been given a three-years-to-life sentence for entering a bathroom stall with an eight-year old and touching his genitals...
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At a certain age, kids want to go to public restrooms unaccompanied. But parents always worry about bad things happening there -- and the story of David Rigoulot illustrates why.

Rigoulot has been given a three-years-to-life sentence for entering a bathroom stall with an eight-year old and touching his genitals.

According to the 18th Judicial District DA's office, the incident took place in October 2010 at a Target in Sheridan. On that day, the boy was using the bathroom when Rigoulot, 38, entered the stall and locked the door behind him. Then, Rigoulot allegedly spread the boy's legs apart despite his protests and touched his genitals before splitting.

The boy told his mother what happened immediately afterward, and she went straight to store security, who pulled surveillance footage that captured images of the man the child had described. He was soon linked to a woman who'd bought something at the store using a check, and investigators traced it to the home of Rigoulot's grandmother, where he often stayed.

When quizzed, Rigoulot is said to have admitted being in the stall with the boy and touching his legs, but not his genitals. However, an Arapahoe County jury didn't buy this explanation. This past December, he was found guilty of sex assault on a child and false imprisonment -- counts that carried a sentence of as much as twelve years to life.

When sentenced this week, Rigoulot didn't get the maximum, but close. He'll serve three years to life, with a twelve-month jolt for false imprisonment running concurrently. It's punishment that will likely put one parent's mind at ease, at least for a while, even as it demonstrates to untold thousands of others that their concerns about public restrooms aren't always unfounded.

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More from our Colorado Crimes archive: "Muriel Keer charged with child abuse resulting in death, baby found floating in overflowing tub."

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