POCATELLO — A 46-year-old local man was arrested Sunday after police say he exposed himself to three teenage girls at Alameda Park after they rebuked his requests to engage in sexual acts.
Brandon Dee Thomas, a transient currently staying in Pocatello, has been charged with three felony counts of sexual abuse of a child via solicitation, according to police and court records the Idaho State Journal obtained Monday.
The investigation into Thomas unfolded around 6:40 p.m. Sunday when Pocatello police were dispatched to Alameda Park for a welfare check on a man wearing a long sleeve shirt and sweat pants, Chubbuck police said in a report attached to the affidavit of probable cause supporting the criminal charges against Thomas.
Upon arrival, police contacted the man matching the description, who identified himself as Thomas and said he was homeless and “just sitting in the park,” the report says.
Three teenage girls approached the officer and told him they approached Thomas to offer him help because he appeared homeless and he told them that he wanted to have sex with them, police said.
The girls, two of whom are age 15 and one is age 13, told the officer they informed Thomas they were children but Thomas again asked them for sex and specifically requested for one of them to go engage in sex acts behind a tree, the report says.
Thomas then exposed himself to the girls, police said.
When the officer confronted Thomas, he admitted to soliciting the girls for sex and exposing himself, adding that he was only trying to expose himself to one of the girls, according to the report.
Thomas was subsequently arrested and booked inside the Bannock County Jail in Pocatello.
He appeared in front of 6th District Magistrate Judge David A. Hooste via video conference from the jail for an arraignment hearing Monday, where his bond was set at $10,000.
Thomas is scheduled to appear in court again on June 16 for a preliminary hearing. Prosecutors will attempt to present sufficient evidence to elevate the case from magistrate to district court for trial.
If convicted, each of the sexual abuse of a child via solicitation charges Thomas faces carry a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.