Home monitor for suspect in 4 indecent exposure arrests
A Clifton Heights man with three pending indecent exposure cases and a fourth disposition already under his belt will have to comply with wearing an electronic home monitoring device and other restrictions if he wishes to stay out of jail.
Lawrence Meehan, 23, of the 400 block of North Springfield Road, is charged with unlawful contact with a minor, indecent exposure, open lewdness, disorderly conduct and harassment for allegedly exposing himself to two young girls that he followed in his neighborhood on Sept. 14.
That case is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 24 before Magisterial District Court Judge Kelly A. Micozzie-Aguirre. Meehan remains free on $2,500 bail in that case, with other conditions.
Meehan is also facing similar charges in Common Pleas Court for two cases in October 2021 and October 2022. Both the 2022 arrest and the one earlier this month constituted bail violations, and Meehan appeared before Common Pleas Court Judge Gregory Mallon last week on a bench warrant hearing.
Mallon reinstituted bail on the prior cases and imposed the home monitoring condition at that time.
Meehan is currently free, but restricted from leaving his home unless previously authorized by the bail office, must remain medication and treatment compliant, must be with his parents at all times and cannot have any contact with the alleged victims or minors in those cases, per Mallon’s order.
Latest arrest
According to an affidavit of probable cause written by Clifton Heights Officer Stephen Paul:
Police were dispatched to the area of North Springfield Road and North Sycamore Avenue about 4:10 p.m. for a report of a man exposing himself, but officers were unable to locate him.
Sgt. Barry White spoke to one of the juvenile victims who reported she was dropped off by a school bus on the first block of South Springfield Road after school and walked to the Wawa at North Oak Avenue and Baltimore Pike with friends.
They then went to retrieve one of the friends’ younger siblings from Westbrook Park Elementary School. The group broke up, with the first victim proceeding south on North Springfield alone.
As she passed a vacant building at North Sycamore, the victim heard someone from the vacant building trying to get her attention by saying, “pssst!”
She looked in the direction of the vacant building and saw a white male with his penis exposed, starring at her from between a white vehicle and detached garage while actively masturbating.
The girl ran north on Sycamore while calling her aunt, who in turn called police. She said she had never seen the man before, but described him as aged 25 to 30 with sandy blond hair, some facial hair, tan shorts and a white shirt.
The second victim also said she had seen the man standing by the vacant building earlier, but thought nothing of it. After retrieving the sibling from the elementary school, they reported seeing him again standing by a car parked at North Springfield and Harrison Avenue.
That victim said she saw the man scratching below his abdomen and looked away.
When she looked back, he had his penis exposed and was masturbating while looking at her. She told the other friend and sibling they had to go and began quickly traveling south on North Springfield. When she looked back, the man was riding away on a black bicycle. She also described him as having sandy hair and wearing gray or tan shorts with a white shirt.
Paul and Barry reviewed surveillance camera footage from cameras at North Springfield and North Oak and saw a man the victims later identified as the same one that had exposed himself to them. Paul knew the man as Meehan from prior contacts, and went to his home address.
Meehan was preliminarily arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Georgia L. Stone, who set bail at 10% of $25,000. Online court records indicate Meehan posted that bail Sept. 18 and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 24 before Magisterial District Court Judge Kelly A. Micozzie-Aguirre.
2019 arrest
Meehan has three similar arrests from 2019 into 2022 while he was living on the 600 block of Wilton Avenue in Secane.
In the first case, three victims — aged 17, 18 and 19, all females — told detectives that they were in a vehicle in the parking lot of Cocco’s Pizza at 540 S. Oak Ave. when a man came up to their car, exposed himself and began masturbating.
One of the victims said he was “waving and smiling at them” while abusing himself, then fled on a bicycle before police arrived.
Meehan voluntarily spoke to police about the incident and admitted that he was in the area that night on his bicycle. All three victims later identified him from a photo array.
Meehan was charged with three counts each of indecent exposure and open lewdness, and six counts of disorderly conduct. He entered into the Accelerated Rehabilitative Program for nonviolent first-time offenders for a single count of indecent exposure on Nov. 13, 2019, and received 12 months of probation.
2021 arrest
Meehan is scheduled for status conferences before Common Pleas Court Senior Judge James Bradley Tuesday on two other cases from 2021 and 2022.
In the 2021 case, Meehan is accused of following a 17-yeargirl in the area of Madison and Church streets in Clifton Heights on Oct. 5, then into the parking lot of the Columbus Club, where he allegedly exposed himself and masturbated in front of her.
Meehan was again on a bicycle, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Clifton Heights Sgt. Stephen Brown.
Meehan was captured on video this time by the alleged victim herself, who used her phone to get his image before running to the nearby police station to report the incident. Bail in that case was reinstated Sept. 21
2022 arrest
It was a little more than a year before Meehan was again allegedly masturbating in public, this time on Oct. 7, 2022, in the parking lot of the Providence Village Shopping Center at 501 N. Providence Road, across the street from the location of the 2019 case.
A witness in that case called 911 after seeing a white male on a red bicycle masturbating in the parking lot between two parked cars, according to an affidavit written by Aldan Sgt. Steven Ziviello.
Police responded and took a man into custody matching that description, identified as Meehan.
Meehan posted a $35,000 bond in that case Oct. 11, 2022, according to court records, but bail in that case was also reinstated Sept. 21.
Tuesday’s hearing
Assistant District Attorney Jenna Smith said that prior to the hearing before Mallon, her office sought a monetary increase to the 10% of $25,000 bail set for the Sept. 14 case.
She noted that Meehan was previously deemed competent to stand trial by Delaware County Diagnostic Services, but said he appears to be incapable of stopping himself from reoffending on an almost annual basis and that the address he provided is directly across the street from Westbrook Elementary.
“This is the defendant’s third open matter involving exposing himself and masturbating in front of minors,” said Smith. “I don’t think there’s anything that’s going to stop him from continuing to engage in this very harmful criminal conduct.”
Defense attorney Stephen Deavor noted that increasing bail simply to keep someone in jail awaiting their court date is explicitly prohibited by the rules of criminal procedure and opposed any additional monetary conditions.
He noted that before the arrest earlier this month, Meehan had been offered entry into the mental health court and two years of probation. He has had no problem appearing at court cases, Deavor added, and current restrictions should ensure he remains compliant.
Deavor also argued that Meehan suffers from significant cognitive impairment, autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactive disorder.
Senior Judge James Bradley declined increasing the monetary portion of bail, but did assert that all conditions Mallon imposed should remain and would apply to the most recent case. Bradley also ordered that the psychosexual evaluation be updated at the earliest opportunity and set an Oct. 31 status conference date.