FREDERICK, Maryland (NBC) -- It's a duty every dad does: take your child to the bathroom.
However, when a Frederick, Maryland man took his two daughters into a public bathroom, he says he was made to feel like a criminal.
Donovan O'Neil was just doing what he's done hundreds of times before: taking his daughters to the bathroom.
He brought three-year-old Isabelle and one-year-old Ivy into the men's bathroom at the Frederick County Department of Social Services.
That's when he had an unexpected encounter with a security guard.
Donovan says the guard came into the bathroom and started beating on the stall door, asking him what he was doing.
He says the guard ordered him out and a group of people was gathered outside.
The people were questioning him, and telling him he couldn't take his daughter's in the men's bathroom, according to Donovan.
He says, "[The security guard] made me feel and look like a bad parent, and I'm a great parent. He made me feel horrible about myself."
Here's what a spokesperson from Social Services says happened: a man felt uncomfortable when he heard Donovan and the girls in the bathroom, so the guard was checking into it.
The O'Neils understand that, but they have a problem with how the situation was handled.
"It scared my daughter that another grown man came into the bathroom and started beating on the door. When I brought them out, he approached me in front of my kids and was saying inappropriate things," Donovan said.
His wife and mother of the girls, added, "If a father needs to take a child to the bathroom that cannot go to the bathroom themselves, or change a diaper, or anything like that, a father should be able to.
I honestly think he was discriminated against because of his gender.
"The O'Neils say there's one way to stop the problem from happening again: get a family bathroom.
They also say they want an apology from the security guard.
Social Services says they hire a security company under an outside contract.
