A Jacksonville mother said she’s angry after the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office didn’t charge a man who was pleasuring himself outside her Springfield home.
Cheryl McCain took video of the act so she could show it to police.
The man appeared to be homeless and was with another woman. The two were sitting in the alley next to McCain’s home.
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“I’m sympathetic to their situation, but that behavior out in public is uncalled for,” McCain said.
Her dining room and her teenage son’s bedroom window overlook that alley. McCain said both she and her son saw the act.
To make matters worse, McCain told Action News Jax she feels like officers downplayed the situation when she called them.
“I figure, OK, I got footage, and it’s done in front of a minor, he’s going to get arrested,” she said. “No, that didn’t happen.”
McCain said the officer instead told the couple to leave but didn’t make any arrests. She said the officer also did not want to see the video when she offered to show it to him.
“I was very upset,” said McCain. She said she emailed the video to JSO.
McCain believes if the man had been charged, he might have stayed away. Instead, she said, he came back, and she’s worried for her family’s safety.
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When we reached out to JSO, an agency spokesperson sent us a statement that reads in part:
"Asst. Chief Short (Zone 1) was notified of and received a video of the incident. We are currently looking to identify and locate the individual in the video. Possible charges could range from Indecent Exposure to a Lewd act in the presence of a minor. Charges would depend on the facts which are derived during the follow-up investigation."
Action News Jax Crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson is also a former sex-crimes detective.
He said a misdemeanor charge is more likely because it would be harder to prove that McCain’s teenage son saw the act.
"It’d be very difficult to prove that any other person saw the actual act when it was being performed,” Jefferson said.
Cox Media Group
