ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, August 15, 1996 TAG: 9608150046
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
Responding to complaints about homosexual acts in public places, Roanoke police have charged 17 men with indecent exposure and sexual assault in city parks, adult bookstores and shopping mall restrooms.
The arrests have been made sporadically since December, but have picked up in recent weeks, according to Lt. Ron Carlisle of the Roanoke Police Department's vice bureau.
Most of the arrests - 10 indecent exposure charges and two cases of sexual assault - were made in department store bathrooms at Valley View Mall.
Authorities say that men seeking anonymous sexual encounters sometimes loiter in the bathrooms, approach other men and expose themselves while making a proposition. The activity is referred to as ``cruising'' for sex.
``It's cruising in inappropriate places, and it's particularly inappropriate in a department store bathroom, where a mother could unwittingly send her 6- or 8-year-old son,'' Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Dennis Nagel said.
The arrests were made after police, responding to complaints from merchants, placed undercover officers in the bathrooms where problems were reported. Some men were charged with exposing themselves to the undercover officer; others were charged with sexual assault for grabbing the officer, Carlisle said.
``Unfortunately, it is behavior that we need to control in a public place,'' Valley View Mall manager Louise Dudley said. Dudley, who took over as mall manager in June, said police have been working undercover at the mall for at least a year.
Security officers also patrol the malls' restrooms regularly, she said.
``I don't think it's restricted to Valley View Mall; it's a problem you're going to have in any metropolitan area,'' Dudley said.
Other arrests stemming from ``cruising'' have been made in Highland and Wasena parks in Southwest Roanoke, and at adult bookstores on Williamson Road. Authorities said there have been no reports of forced sex in the areas, which instead are seen by some men as places to find consensual sex.
Many of the men who have been charged ``look like the most distinguished gentlemen on your block,'' Nagel said. This week in General District Court, a 70-year-old retired professional pleaded guilty to indecent exposure and was fined $500 - the standard punishment in such cases.
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