Man linked to several flasher cases

The incidents have occurred in parking lots, on neighborhood streets and even on residents’ porches.

Each is the same: A man has exposed himself to a woman and sometimes children.

Starting in June, police across the county, including in Greenwood, Franklin and Edinburgh, started receiving reports about a flasher.

Last week, police arrested Justin M. Wagers, 35, Martinsville. He was charged with public indecency with a previous conviction, according to court records.

That charge stems from an incident in which a woman said a man, later identified as Wagers, followed her when she rode her bike back to her Center Grove area neighborhood from a nearby gas station. He got out of his truck, exposed himself and then left, according to the report.

But police have connected Wagers to at least four reports, are investigating four more that are very similar and suspect he could be connected to more local cases. In each case, women described a similar looking man — bald, in his 30s and often wearing camouflage shorts, and driving a white truck with a black camper shell.

Wagers has a lengthy criminal history of similar charges and convictions, including public indecency and indecent exposure, that go back more than 10 years in central Indiana. He is listed on the sex offender registry.

He was arrested and convicted in Johnson County after a woman reported in 2011 that Wagers exposed himself to her while she was riding her bike in downtown Franklin on a weekday morning. Shortly after, police found Wagers’ truck parked at the courthouse, and the woman identified both him and the truck. He served more than a year in prison.

The first report this summer was in Franklin on June 21, when a 14-year-old girl walking near Drake Road and Jefferson Street reported a man exposed himself and asked if she wanted a ride. The girl told police the man was bald and drove a truck with a camper shell, according to the report.

The reports continued in July and August, with multiple calls in Franklin.

On July 27, a resident on Bennett Street said a man knocked on her door and asked for someone who didn’t live there. When she looked down, she realized the man had exposed himself. Two days later, a woman in Northwood of Franklin Apartments reported finding a man sitting on her porch furniture, touching himself, the reports said.

In August, a woman in Lakeview Apartments told police a man was standing next to her vehicle, exposing himself, when she left for work one morning, the report said.

Franklin Police Detective Ray Tice has been investigating and contacted the victims after Wagers was picked up on the other local case. Wagers is connected to at least two of the cases in Franklin and could be involved with others. In some cases, people made a report of someone exposing themselves but could not give a good description of the person, Tice said.

Other reports are similar but have not been connected to Wagers. On July 14, a Nineveh woman called the sheriff’s office to report a man standing on her back patio, exposing himself.

When she went to yell at him, he ran away. Officers were not able to find him, the report said.

Then on Aug. 1, Edinburgh police received a report that a man had exposed himself to two elementary school-aged girls playing near their home. Police don’t have a suspect for that case but are watching the other local cases for similarities, Edinburgh Police Chief David Mann said.

But in two recent cases on the north side of the county, the victims were able to identify Wagers.

On Aug. 16, a woman on Pleasant Run Drive in Greenwood called police after a man wearing camouflage shorts and driving a white truck stopped in front of her home while she was working in her yard. He exposed himself and then drove away. The woman told police her children were inside but could see the man, the report said.

The woman identified Wagers as the man who exposed himself to her, Greenwood Police Department Assistant Chief Matthew Fillenwarth said.

Then on Aug. 17, police received the call from the woman on Mount Pleasant Drive Center in the Center Grove area. Police got surveillance footage from the nearby gas station, and the woman was able to identify Wagers, according to charging documents.

Wagers was arrested and taken to the Johnson County jail, where he declined to talk with investigators. He was being held on $40,000 bond.