Police say 46-year-old man exposed himself to group of teens in Pocatello park
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POCATELLO — An incident at Alameda Park involving a 46-year-old man allegedly exposing himself to a group of teenagers resulted in multiple charges of sexual abuse of a child.
According to court documents, at around 6 p.m. on June 7, officers with the Pocatello Police Department were dispatched to Alameda Park over an incident involving an adult man and a group of teenagers.
The teenagers, all around the age of 15, told officers that they had spotted a man, later identified as Brandon Dee Thomas, whom they believed was homeless at the park.
Wanting to see if the man needed any help, they approached Thomas and asked how they could assist.
The teenagers claim Thomas asked them for sex, and when they told him that they were minors, Thomas again asked for sex near some trees.
The document states that the teenagers had gotten a video of the incident, where it was visible that Thomas had exposed his genitals to them.
Thomas was arrested and booked into the Bannock County Jail, where he faces three felony counts of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 16.
EastIdahoNews.com reached out to the Bannock County Public Defender’s Office to request a comment from Thomas’s defense attorney, but was told he has not yet been assigned one. EastIdahoNews.com will update when one becomes available.
The 46-year-old man is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing at 9 a.m. on June 16 before Magistrate Judge David Penrod.
Though Thomas has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty. If Thomas is found guilty, he faces up to 75 years in prison.