69-Year-Old Exposed Himself to Teens at Siesta Beach, Deputies Say

A 69-year-old man faces a charge of lewd and lascivious exhibition, after deputies allege that he exposed himself to two girls at Siesta Public Beach on Thursday, April 18.

According to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, Tom Petcher of Hillsboro, IL, is accused of swimming toward two 14-year-old girls and then floating on his back with his bathing trunks pulled down to his ankles.

One of the girls told deputies that the suspect also tried to rub his buttocks on her leg, according to a sworn probable cause affidavit filed in Sarasota County.

According to a probable cause affidavit, "The defendant continued to swim toward them. He was floating on his back with his bathing suit at his ankles. The victims advised that they could see the defendant's penis as he did this. As they swam away from them, he continued to swim closer to them, still keeping his bathing suit at his ankles..."

The girls went to their mothers and then to two lifeguards to report the incident, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Petcher was arrested as he was walking toward the parking lot, with a female lifeguard following him.

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