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Man Exposes Himself to Woman at Bookstore for the Blind

By Andrew Chow, Esq. on May 02, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Justice may be blind, but anyone can see that indecent exposure at a bookstore for blind people is quite clearly a crime.

Well, maybe not everyone. Police in a Philadelphia suburb are looking for the man behind an unusual, and unlawful, spectacle: The man exposed himself at a bookstore for the blind, and then ran off.

You see, apparently not everyone at the Bucks County Association for the Blind's bookstore is actually blind. This includes one woman who claims she came across the bookstore flasher -- who then showed her a bit more than she wanted to see, the Burlington County Times reports.

The indecent exposure occurred about 2 p.m. on a recent Friday, at the blind bookstore in Newtown Township, Pa. But if the culprit is caught and puts on a defense, he may set his sights on a legal technicality.

Pennsylvania's indecent exposure law makes it illegal to expose one's private parts in a public place, or anyplace where others are present and the exposer "knows or should know that this conduct is likely to offend, affront or alarm."

But because the man allegedly exposed himself at a bookstore for blind people, he could conceivably try to claim he thought no one would be offended. Maybe the man truly believed the bookstore's patrons were all blind, and no one would ever see his dastardly deed.

That hypothetical defense may not matter, though, because the woman he allegedly exposed himself to was not blind. It's not clear how many other bookstore patrons may have caught a glimpse of the man's exposed parts.

The bookstore flasher is described as a skinny black man who stands about 5-foot-10, appears 35 to 45 years old, and was wearing a black track suit, the Times reports. Anyone who sees the man is asked to contact police.

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