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(BALTIMORE) — Survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic Church leaders rallied in front of Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh’s office, calling for the release of preliminary findings of an investigation into the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Teresa Lancaster said she was interviewed four years ago upon the launch of the investigation. She told investigators she was abused at Archbishop Keough High School, but she has yet to be given any answers.

“It’s hard not to see any action,” she said, according to the Baltimore Sun. “I would like to hear something, please.”

Jean Wehner, who says she was also abused while a student at Archbishop Keough High School, said that without any updates over the past four years, survivors who spoke with investigators are finding themselves “in an old familiar place where the silence turns to fear.”

“The fear is that we told the secret and that the disclosure will bring harm to us and our loved ones, or that we are not believed, or that we’ve been duped,” she told the Baltimore Sun.

The school, which merged with Seton High School and was renamed Seton Keough in 1988, closed its doors in June 2017.

Lancaster and Wehner were both featured in “The Keepers,” a popular Netflix docuseries released in 2017 that explored the 1969 murder of Sister Catherine Cesnik and its suspected link to her knowledge of sexual abuse of minors within the church.

Frosh, who is not running for re-election, is set to leave office in January 2023 and survivors are urging him to share the findings before his term comes to a close.

A spokesperson for Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh’s office told ABC News in a statement on Wednesday that while the AG’s office cannot comment on ongoing investigations, they can confirm that they have conducted hundreds of interviews and reviewed thousands of documents.

“We have made significant progress in the investigation and expect to make an announcement in the coming months,” the spokesperson said.

The investigation into the abuse of children in Baltimore became public in 2018 after Archbishop William E. Lori informed priests and deacons that the archdiocese has been cooperating with the AG’s office in an “investigation of records related to the sexual abuse of children,” according to a statement released by Lori in September of that year.

Lori added, “Based on my conversations with people throughout the Archdiocese…it is clear that we are a Church in crisis and that crisis is one of trust. It is my hope and prayer that this independent review and other acts of transparency by the Archdiocese will bring about greater trust in the Church among those who are understandably skeptical about the Church’s handling of allegations of abuse.”

The Maryland investigation became public after a two-year probe in Pennsylvania ended with a bombshell grand jury report released in August 2018, accusing hundreds of Roman Catholic priests of assaulting children.

So far, no indictments have been announced in Maryland.

Members of “Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests” (SNAP), who joined Lancaster and Wehner at the rally on Tuesday, called on the AG to hold abusers accountable, while Maryland SNAP director David Lorenz questioned why the Maryland investigation has taken so long.

“We have perpetrators walking the streets of Maryland, preying on children in Maryland, and the [Office of the Attorney General] is sitting on this information. Why is that?” said Lorenz, according to ABC affiliate station in Baltimore, WMAR.

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(FRANKFORT, Ky.) — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said water and electricity systems across the state remain heavily damaged Wednesday from intense flooding, an issue raising concerns as scorching heat replaces rainfall.

National, state and local authorities are working to bring food, water and electricity to those in the affected areas, he said.

“These are proud, hardworking folks that have just lost it all, and I think the least we can do as human beings, as people of values, is to give and do what we can to get them back on their feet,” Beshear said.

At Wednesday’s press conference, Beshear also said 1,300 people have been rescued from flooded areas and 3 have been confirmed as missing, although that number is likely higher than what has been reported.

The death toll hasn’t risen since Monday, with 37 people reported to have died due to the floods, according to the governor.

Beshear said that a total of 219 people have been temporarily housed in Kentucky’s state parks and another 221 in shelters, to account for 440 displaced individuals. However, there are many more displaced persons that are staying with friends and family that are not included in that total, he said.

Cooling centers have been established across eight counties region braces for severe heat on Wednesday and Thursday, according to Beshear. The governor encouraged residents, especially elderly, high risk and displaced individuals without electricity to use the cooling centers in order to stay safe in the heat.

Restoring the damaged water systems will require “significant time and significant dollars,” Beshear said.

Beshear added that power outages were cut almost in half on Tuesday, with a remaining 5,058 hookups without power. Water outages remain at just over 1,800 service connections and 45,600 are under boiled water advisories, he said.

The most essential relief right now, Beshear said, is to get people water.

The National Guard has distributed over 2,400 cases of water as of Wednesday morning. Crews continue to deliver supplies and conduct welfare checks, officials said.

Jeremey Lowe, a Kentucky National Guard detachment sergeant and critical care flight paramedic, said the role of his crew has changed from emergency rescues to health and welfare checks over the last couple of days.

At the height of the flooding, Lowe’s crews worked to hoist people off roofs and out of trees using aircraft to take them to a safe area. The paramedics are now working to help elderly and medication dependent residents, he said.

Lowe told ABC News the majority of their welfare checks require no further assistance from the team, as “the people affected are self-sufficient and independent.”

While many people have been evacuated throughout the flooding, some are now sheltering in isolated areas, relying on food and water deliveries from authorities, Kentucky National Guard crew chief Shaun Morris told ABC News.

Morris said flooding conditions seem to be improving, but that debris and damages have left many roads and bridges impassable, making his airborne crews essential to the relief effort.

Beshear said many roads and bridges have been “just eaten away.”

There is a Team Kentucky Flood Relief Fund that has raised over $3 million in donations for affected families, Beshear said.

The first funds will go toward funerals for those who were killed in the floods, Beshear said.

“A lot of the grief that we’ve suppressed these last seven days trying to get the mud out and take care of each other…it’s going to come to the surface,” Beshear said. “Remember it’s okay not to be okay. I don’t think our brains or our hearts are designed to deal with trauma and loss at this level.”

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(UVALDE, Texas) — Uvalde, Texas, shooting victim Makenna Lee Elrod loved butterflies so much that they were released at her funeral in June.

Several landed on her siblings and her mother, April Elrod, who said it felt like the 10-year-old was sending them a sign.

“One landed on my shoulder, one landed on her sister’s shoe, which is silly because Makenna is three years younger than her sister but they were the same size shoe and they always fought over shoes,” said Elrod, who spoke with ABC News for her first interview since the tragedy on May 24.

“One landed on her daddy’s tie,” she added.

Elrod recently got a tattoo in Makenna’s honor, she said. Flowers grace her forearm, representing each of her children, and a butterfly sits above Makenna’s flower.

She asked Georgia woodworker Sean Peacock to make her two benches shaped like butterflies in Makenna’s honor, but she didn’t expect he’d make them for free, let alone honor all 21 victims with butterfly benches of their own using donations from GoFundMe.

Elrod has called meeting Peacock “a blessing.” He said the donation is a “love story.”

“He and I’ve been talking since and when I’m having a bad day, he just seems to be the one that messages and says you know, we’re praying for you,” Elrod said. “Her story has brought people closer together. And I mean, what more can you ask for?”

A prayer vigil was held Monday in Uvalde Town Square as the benches were unveiled. The benches were laid alongside crosses that had been put up around the square’s fountain to honor each victim, with many adorned with rosaries, teddy bears, photos and flowers.

Families of several victims joined the Elrod family at the vigil, admiring the benches as the sun went down.

Elrod said Makenna was loved by many, making friends everywhere she went. She said people continue to come up to her and tell her stories about Makenna that she hadn’t heard before.

“When she played softball, she would take an extra 30 minutes to say goodbye at the softball fields before we can leave,” Elrod said.

She was also loved by her teachers, one of whom was a close friend to the Elrods. Irma Garcia, who also died in the shooting, was shielding Makenna during the attack. Elrod herself is a teacher in Uvalde, at Dalton Elementary.

“I knew her and knew what an amazing teacher she was. And so I requested for her to be Makenna’s teacher that year, or this year, and Makenna had a wonderful year. And she was growing. And I mean, she really was having a great year and, and Miss Garcia was an amazing teacher. Amazing,” Elrod said. “And I know that she, that when she left this Earth, that she was being held by Miss Garcia, and she was trying to protect her.”

When people remember Makenna, Elrod wants them to remember her daughter’s bright smile and welcoming demeanor, as well as her faith.

They hope her spirit lives on through a butterfly garden near their home, as well as the memorials of her scattered throughout the city.

“I feel like we’re gonna keep Makenna’s memory alive because we’re gonna love big, like Makenna did,” Elrod said.

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(HIGHLAND PARK, Ill.) — The man accused of carrying out a mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, on the Fourth of July pleaded not guilty to all charges on Wednesday.

The suspect, Robert Crimo III, is facing 117 charges for killing seven people and injuring more than 30 others.

Appearing in court Wednesday for his arraignment, Crimo sat handcuffed and masked in a Lake County Jail jumpsuit next to his three attorneys.

The 21-year-old is charged with 21 counts of first-degree murder (three counts for each victim) as well as 48 counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm (for each person hit by a bullet, bullet fragment or shrapnel).

Speaking after the arraignment, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Reinhart told reporters if the suspect is convicted of murdering any two people, he will face life in prison without the possibility of parole. Under Illinois law, any sentence on the charge of murder is served in full.

Reinhart said the suspect’s defense did not demand a trial at the Wednesday hearing.

Refusing to comment on evidence, charging decisions or the status of the investigation, Reinhart praised law enforcement, the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office and victim specialists who provided counseling for those impacted by the shooting.

Attorneys agreed to return on Nov. 1 for a case management conference.

Five of the victims killed in the shooting died at the scene, one died at a hospital the same day and the seventh victim succumbed to his injuries at a hospital on July 5, according to police.

The suspect allegedly fired more than 70 shots from a perch on top of a building overlooking the Chicago suburb’s July 4 parade route, according to police.

The suspect planned the shooting for several weeks, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Crimo was dressed in women’s clothing, apparently to blend in with the crowds as he made his escape, according to police. A semi-automatic rifle was found at the scene after it fell out of the suspect’s bag while leaving the area, according to police.

Investigators said they found a second rifle, purchased legally, in the car the suspect was driving when he was arrested several hours later. The suspect also legally purchased three other weapons, including two pistols, which investigators seized from his father’s home.

Two troubling encounters with police did not surface when background checks were run on Crimo, a part of his application for a gun license.

Police had checked in on the suspect in April 2019 after he attempted suicide, but his parents assured police he was getting help from mental health professionals. The second encounter came when police were called to his home in September 2019 after a family member claimed Crimo was threatening to “kill everyone,” according to police records.

At the time, the Highland Park Police Department determined that the shooter posed a “clear and present danger,” according to police records.

This was just months before he passed four background checks as part of his application for a firearm owner identification card, at the age of 19.

Because he was under 21 at the time, his father sponsored his application and state police said there was an “insufficient basis to establish a clear and present danger and deny the FOID application.”

State police said they had reviewed the suspect’s criminal history before approving his application and only found a January 2016 ordinance violation for being a minor in possession of tobacco.

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(HIGHLAND PARK, Ill.) — The man accused of carrying out a mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, on the Fourth of July is set to appear in court Wednesday for his arraignment.

The suspect, Robert Crimo III, is facing 117 charges for killing seven people and injuring more than 30 others.

The 21-year-old is charged with 21 counts of first-degree murder (three counts for each victim) as well as 48 counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm (for each person hit by a bullet, bullet fragment or shrapnel). The suspect has not entered a plea.

Five of the victims killed in the shooting died at the scene, one died at a hospital the same day and the seventh victim succumbed to his injuries at a hospital on July 5, according to police.

The suspect allegedly fired more than 70 shots from a perch on top of a building overlooking the Chicago suburb’s July 4 parade route, according to police.

The suspect planned the shooting for several weeks, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Crimo was dressed in women’s clothing, apparently to blend in with the crowds as he made his escape, according to police. A semi-automatic rifle was found at the scene after it fell out of the suspect’s bag while leaving the area, according to police.

Investigators said they found a second rifle, purchased legally, in the car the suspect was driving when he was arrested several hours later. The suspect also legally purchased three other weapons, including two pistols, which investigators seized from his father’s home.

Two troubling encounters with police did not surface when background checks were run on Crimo, a part of his application for a gun license.

Police had checked in on the suspect in April 2019 after he attempted suicide, but his parents assured police he was getting help from mental health professionals. The second encounter came when police were called to his home in September 2019 after a family member claimed Crimo was threatening to “kill everyone,” according to police records.

At the time, the Highland Park Police Department determined that the shooter posed a “clear and present danger,” according to police records.

This was just months before he passed four background checks as part of his application for a firearm owner identification card, at the age of 19.

Because he was under 21 at the time, his father sponsored his application and state police said there was an “insufficient basis to establish a clear and present danger and deny the FOID application.”

State police said they had reviewed the suspect’s criminal history before approving his application and only found a January 2016 ordinance violation for being a minor in possession of tobacco.

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(NEW YORK) — A repetitive meteorological event combined with the landscape in eastern Kentucky was a recipe bound for disaster, which led to dozens of deaths as a result of devastating flooding, scientists told ABC News.

A stubborn stationary front draped across the region for several days in a row, resulting in the formation of “training thunderstorms,” storms that repeatedly move over the same region in a short period of time. These types of storms typically drop very heavy rain that leads to flash flooding, with rainfall rates reaching 4 inches per hour at times across the complex terrain of the Appalachia.

This system is exactly what occurred in Kentucky last week, creating the “perfect meteorological setup” for catastrophic flooding, Marshall Shepherd, director of the Atmospheric Sciences Program at the University of Georgia and former president of the American Meteorological Society, told ABC News.

The front and the copious amounts of moisture that it contained allowed the storm “to really warm and move and develop in the same locations” over a short period of time, Shepherd said.

Rainfall estimates so far show that 14 to 16 inches fell during a five-day period, beginning on July 27.

Most of the rainfall fell the next day — with the excessive amounts of rain leading to major flooding along the rivers in eastern Kentucky, shattering records along the North Fork of the Kentucky River.

Preliminary stream data from the U.S. Geological Service shows that the flow at the North Fork of the Kentucky River in Jackson, Kentucky, reached a peak that was the highest observed there in 95 years, Robert Mason, extreme hydrologic events coordinator and Delaware River master for the USGS, told ABC News via email. In addition, flood flow at the North Fork of the Kentucky River at Whitesburg, Kentucky, reached the highest flow observed there in 47 years.

The topography and geology of the land in eastern Kentucky also played a significant role in exacerbating the effects of the heavy rainfall, the experts said.

The rainfall last week resulted in the biggest 24-hour event seen in the past 50 years of recording in Kentucky’s Robinson Forest, Chris Barton, a professor of water hydrology and forest management at the University of Kentucky, told ABC News.

The land is steep, rugged and “very dissected,” with the only flatland in the area located right at the floodplain, where the majority of the houses are because it is the only suitable flatline where people can build, Barton said. The onslaught of rushing water then flows quickly into those mountainous and valley communities.

The Robinson Forest, an old and established forest with no impervious surfaces, still could not handle the streams with multiple watersheds flowing onto the land as a result of the downpour of precipitation, Barton said. The geology of the area allows the water to move through the soil and into these ephemeral channels very quickly, which then results in a “really flashy” stream.

When Barton went to sleep the night the flooding began, he knew he would wake up to a disaster, he said. As of Monday, Robinson Forest was still a “complete mess,” with no electricity or solar power, he added.

Another contributing factor to the flooding is that the engineering infrastructure for stormwater removal for many cities and towns around the country was engineered for the rainstorms of the 1970s and 1960s and prior, Shepherd said. But storms are now raining “with much more vigor and intensity” than 50 years ago, he added.

Climate change is expected to increase annual flooding costs in the U.S. by 26% to $40.6 billion, a study published earlier this year in Nature found. The cost of the additional damage will be borne disproportionately by disadvantaged communities, the study found.

At least 37 people have been confirmed dead in Kentucky, the majority of whom likely lived in impoverished communities, Shepherd said, citing research conducted at the University of Georgia that found that communities of color and poor communities tend to be disproportionately living in some of the most flood-prone areas in the country, whether in cities or in mountainous terrain.

The region in eastern Kentucky where some of the worst flooding occurred has historically served as a mining community, Barton said.

While the history of mining on the land likely did not contribute to the severity of the flood, many of the people who were displaced or suffered loss of life likely worked, at some level, either at the mines or supporting the mining industry in the area, Barton said.

The number of victims killed in the flooding is expected to grow, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said on Tuesday, describing the event as the most “devastating and deadly” of his lifetime.

The flooding events are expected to increase at such a rate that what were once 1-in-100-year floods could soon be known as 1-in-30-year floods instead, Shepherd said.

“We have warned for decades now that as our climate warms, there’s more water vapor available to these storms,” Shepherd added.

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(LOS ANGELES) — Jury selection in the trial of former UCLA Health physician James Heaps, who is accused of sexual abuse, began on Monday and is expected to take place the rest of the week.

Heaps faces 21 charges in an ongoing criminal case brought against him in a Los Angeles County Superior Court, according to court records. He has pleaded not guilty.

The trial is expected to last throughout September, the Los Angeles Superior Court told ABC News.

In February, the University of California announced it had reached an agreement to pay $243.6 million to 203 women, settling lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct by Heaps.

Last year, the university agreed to pay $73 million in the settlement of a class-action lawsuit filed by seven women, on behalf of 5,500 women who were patients of the former UCLA gynecologist, court records show.

In a statement from 2019 following Heaps’ arrest, the school said it fired Heaps after sexual misconduct allegations emerged and removed him from clinical practice.

“Sexual abuse in any form is unacceptable and represents an inexcusable breach of the physician-patient relationship. We are deeply sorry that a former UCLA physician violated our policies and standards, our trust and the trust of his patients,” the school said at the time.

Heaps was an OB-GYN with ties to the school for more than three decades, the school said in its press release.

In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court last year, two women accused Heaps of fondling and groping their breasts without gloves during what were supposed to be breast examinations.

The women also accused him of touching both of their genitals in a sexual manner during a purported vaginal examination, according to the lawsuit.

“The conduct alleged to have been committed by Heaps is reprehensible and contrary to the university’s values. We express our gratitude to the brave individuals who came forward, and hope this settlement is one step toward providing healing and closure for the plaintiffs involved,” UCLA told ABC News in a statement in February.

More than 500 lawsuits were filed against Heaps and the school, accusing UCLA of not protecting patients after it found out about the alleged abuse, according to ABC News Los Angeles station KABC-TV.

An attorney for Heaps, Leonard B. Levine, told The Washington Post in May that Heaps is “adamant” about his innocence.

“He’s looking forward to a jury trial where he believes he’ll be totally exonerated,” Levine told the newspaper.

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(UVALDE, Texas) — ABC News pieced together what happened the day Salvador Ramos allegedly killed 21 people at Robb Elementary School, using maps, video evidence and information from law enforcement.

In the days immediately following the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, city leaders were bombarded with requests for information from journalists covering the attack. More than a hundred submissions were sent to city hall and the police department under the state’s public information law, to request documents and video that could help make sense of a mass shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead.

But it wasn’t just members of the media who were seeking such records; the FBI was too, according to government emails newly obtained by ABC News.

In the wake of one of the deadliest school shootings in America’s history, the nation’s premier investigative agency used, among other means, the Texas Public Information Act to seek relevant information — the same method used by news reporters and TV producers.

The FBI would not comment on the record as to why it used a process geared toward public information requests as part of its official investigation. But state officials have noted that the aftermath of the shooting has been plagued by a lack of communication on the part of numerous agencies — much to the frustration of victims’ family members who still have unanswered questions about the attack.

Emails show the that the FBI ended up getting the information it was seeking — but not through the Public Information Act request.

The requests were made on May 26 and May 27 by personnel from the FBI’s field office in San Antonio, Texas, who submitted three separate public records requests with the city of Uvalde seeking, among other things, police reports associated with the shooter and any reports associated with the home where he was living with his grandmother, who he shot in the face before heading to Robb Elementary.

A law firm representing the city of Uvalde told the FBI that its requests should be directed to the Uvalde Police Department, rather than the city itself, and that public records requests from the FBI put the city in a “difficult legal position.”

“The state rules do not allow for an intergovernmental transfer of records with a federal agency,” a representative from the law firm Denton Navarro Rocha Bernal & Zech wrote to the FBI in an email.

“Additionally, the rules require that the requests from your agency be treated in the same manner as all other requestors,” the email said. “Unfortunately, compliance with the rules is counterproductive and does not make any sense in this situation. However, we cannot advise our client to ‘not follow the rules.'”

The law firm suggested that the Uvalde Police Department could provide the FBI with the records it requested without having to rely on the Texas Public Information Act.

“The provision of records would be under separate law that allows for cooperation with other agencies for law enforcement purposes,” the law firm said.

On June 16, the FBI emailed the law firm, saying, “We no longer need these records,” and withdrew its requests.

Uvalde:365 is a continuing ABC News series reported from Uvalde and focused on the Texas community and how it forges on in the shadow of tragedy.

A spokesperson for the city of Uvalde told ABC News that “initially, the FBI’s request was treated like open records because of the sheer volume the city received,” which the spokesperson said included 244 open records requests related to the shooting.

“But the city inevitably cooperated with the FBI and made sure they had what they needed,” said the spokesperson.

The information was provided by the Uvalde Police Department, the spokesperson confirmed.

“The city has processed all open records requests in accordance with the laws that guide us,” said the spokesperson.

The emails obtained by ABC News, which themselves were obtained through a public records request, also included requests from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the state’s top law-enforcement agency, that were made directly to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office for information related to the shooting and the suspect.

Similar to a request made by the City of Uvalde to the AG’s office, the Texas DPS initially asked that this information be withheld from the public. In an email to Paxton, DPS officials argued that the records needed to be kept confidential because the public “knowing the location where surveillance assets and Department employees focus during operations, knowing how many law enforcement personnel are participating and their response capabilities, will compromise law enforcement purposes by enabling criminals to anticipate weakness in law enforcement procedures.”

Meanwhile, DPS officials confirmed to ABC News that they received requests from the FBI relating to the case and shared evidence with them through intergovernmental transfers.

DPS officials also said recently that they had, themselves, shared some information with the public that had been requested though the Public Information Act.

“DPS has released some emails and text messages in response to specific public information requests,” a DPS spokesperson said, adding that the agency “is waiting for rulings” from the AG’s office on several requests.

“The first ruling should be issued sometime in the middle of August,” the spokesperson said. “The Texas Ranger investigation remains active and ongoing. We are also waiting for further instruction from the Uvalde County DA with regard to the release of additional information.”

The mystery and confusion surrounding the shooting cropped up almost immediately after the attack, as several law enforcement and elected officials shared misleading or contradictory information in the hours and days following the massacre.

“The fear of a coverup is palpable here, and while most see it as simply part of an intragovernmental ‘blame game,’ others have made wild accusations that authorities are sweeping some major scandal under the rug,” a Texas House of Representatives committee wrote in an extensive report on the shooting released two weeks ago.

“It does become harder to proclaim the truth when it is so opaque. Most fundamentally, there has been a loss of trust in government,” the report said.

In response to many media outlets’ requests for records and other information, the city of Uvalde has claimed that “any release of records” would “impede a thorough and complete investigation.” Several media outlets, including ABC News, are planning to mount a joint challenge to government agencies’ limited response to requests.

ABC News’ Mike Levine contributed to this report.

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(WAYNE, N.J.) — A mother is speaking out after she claims her 2-year-old daughter was deliberately ignored by a Chuck E. Cheese employee on Saturday at the Route 23 location in Wayne, New Jersey.

The family was attending a birthday party at the Chuck E. Cheese location when the alleged incident took place.

In a video of the incident, which was posted Sunday on Twitter, a costumed Chuck E. Cheese character can be seen giving high fives to children while walking in front of a small stage.

The footage appears to show an eager Safa Powell jumping up and down and reaching out to high-five the character as well. However the employee in the footage appears to pass her without interacting, despite high-fiving three other children.

“There were a bunch of caucasian children … that were on stage that received a high-five. My Black child was the one to get ignored,” Safa’s mother Natyana Muhammad told New York City ABC affiliate WABC.

“When she turned around she just was excited to see him,” Muhammad continued. “She saw that he was giving all the other kids high-fives and she put her hand up, it was her turn, but he put his hand in and then down and then acted like he didn’t see her.”

Insistent on getting the character’s attention, Powell continued to hold her hand out waiting for the employee in the Chuck E. Cheese costume to acknowledge her, to no avail.

“That was my first time actually witnessing someone, you know, ignore her or make her feel like she’s invisible,” Muhammad said.

Chuck E. Cheese, a subsidiary of Apollo Management, shared a statement with WABC following the incident.

“Chuck E. Cheese is saddened when any family or child has a less than perfect experience,” the written statement read. “We want to thank the family who brought this to our attention at our Wayne, NJ location and for giving the onsite manager an opportunity to apologize and address their concerns in person. As home to millions of families and kids every year that celebrate the big and small milestones, including fun, our goal is to create an inclusive experience for children and parents of all ages, races, ethnicities, religious backgrounds, and learning differences.”

“Our mission is to provide a fun and a safe place Where A Kid Can Be A Kid, and all cast members are trained to ensure that we live up to this promise,” the statement added.

ABC News reached out to Chuck E. Cheese company officials for further comment.

Muhammad said she was displeased with the initial response to the incident.

“Gave the onsite manager an opportunity to apologize when she said ‘I’m sorry you feel that way,'” she said. “Was that the apology?”

The manager of the Wayne, New Jersey, Chuck E. Cheese declined to comment on the incident to ABC News.

This incident comes in the wake of a report from another family in July who said that their children, who are Black, were ignored by costumed employees at Sesame Place in Philadelphia.

The family in that incident joined other families in a class action suit against the theme park seeking $25 million and alleging racial discrimination. Sesame Place told ABC News in a statement at that time that the company was reviewing the lawsuit, “[looked] forward to addressing that claim through the established legal process” and was “committed to deliver an inclusive, equitable and entertaining experience for all our guests.”

Natyana Muhammad’s 2-year-old daughter is pictured posing with her arms crossed beside the Chuck E. Cheese character her mother says he ignored her.
After Muhammad brought Saturday’s incident to the company’s attention, she said onsite leaders offered to have the Chuck E. Cheese character pose for a picture with 2-year-old Safa. According to her mother, Safa’s “demeanor changed from … excited, happy, jumping, high-five, to — when it was time to take a picture — just standing beside him.”

In that picture, Safa can be seen standing next to Chuck E. Cheese with her arms crossed.

“I hugged her, told her that I loved her and that she never has to come beg for love because she is loved by many,” Muhammad said.

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(NEW YORK) — The suspect involved in an unprovoked attack on a 59-year-old Asian woman in New York City on Sunday has been arrested and charged with a hate crime, police said.

The NYPD arrested Anthony Evans, 30, on Tuesday in Manhattan and charged him with assault as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon.

The woman was pulling a shopping cart behind her when a man, believed to be Evans, approached her and sliced her hand with a boxcutter on 42nd Street near Times Square before running off, police said.

The woman is so frightened by the attack that she won’t leave her home, she told ABC News New York station WABC, adding that the attack caused heavy bleeding.

Year-to-date, hate crimes in New York City are up 13.3%, according to crime data from the NYPD.

On Sunday, a 70-year-old Asian woman was attacked by four people in the lobby of a San Francisco housing complex, according to the San Francisco Police Department.

The woman said the four suspects began talking to her but did not understand her because of a language barrier, the SFPD told ABC News.

The four suspects, described by cops as juveniles, followed her into the building, attacked her, stole her belongings and left the scene, police told ABC News.

The woman exclusively told ABC News San Francisco station KGO that the alleged assailants came back, attacked her and stole her keys.

Arrests have not been made and an investigation is ongoing, SFPD said in a statement.

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