9 counts of committing indecent acts laid against man

A lengthy investigation has resulted in charges against a Regina man, accused of exposing himself to women in parked vehicles over the course of 2½ months.

According to information from the Regina Police Service, officers were alerted on various dates between Nov. 30 and Jan. 15 to incidents in which a man approached parked cars with female occupants in the Heritage and Centre Square neighbourhoods, exposed his genitals and masturbated in front of them.

Police said all the complainants were adults.

Police began investigating at the time of the first complaint in November, but were not able to immediately identify a suspect and gather enough evidence to lay a charge. That happened on Feb. 17, when police arrested and charged 51-year-old Gregory Todd Stopanski.

In addition to nine counts of committing an indecent act, Stopanski faces 12 counts of distributing intimate images without the consent of the person depicted.

According to police, the latter charges resulted when officers, in the course of investigating the indecent act allegations, found 12 images described as “intimate in nature” that had been posted in public places — most stapled to signs. According to court documents, the images included photographs of a woman’s breasts, and police said the allegation is that the images were posted without the complainant’s consent.

Police said the woman in the photographs and Stopanski are known to each other.

Stopanski had been subject to a peace bond at the time the offences were alleged to have occurred, leading to an additional charge that he breached that order by failing to keep the peace and be of good behaviour.

He made his first appearance at Regina provincial court on Tuesday, when the Crown opposed his release from custody. A lawyer appeared with Stopanski, but pointed out his firm had not yet been retained. Court heard Stopanski’s girlfriend contacted that office on his behalf.

Stopanski returns to court on Thursday, and is expected to check further into getting legal counsel in the meantime.