A 37-year-old Aberdeen man accused of exposing himself to a woman at a local shopping plaza found himself in handcuffs twice within the same stretch of hours this week, after officers released him during his first arrest because of a medical situation and then tracked him down again on an active warrant. Frederick Harris now faces a charge of indecent exposure stemming from the encounter at Aberdeen Shopping Plaza on August 12.
According to the Daily Voice, officers were called to the shopping plaza at approximately 10:18 a.m. that day for a reported indecent exposure. Police say a woman was sitting inside her vehicle at the plaza when Harris exposed himself to her and committed a lewd act. Harris had left the scene before officers arrived, according to police.
Investigators identified Harris as the suspect and, per the same report, officers tracked him down in the area of Beards Hill Road, a busy commercial corridor that connects several retail destinations in the city. Officers took him into custody, but he was released from police custody because of a medical situation, the department said. No further details on the nature of that medical situation have been made public, and it remains an open question.
A Warrant Brings Him Back Into Custody
The reprieve did not last. Investigators filed an application for charges, and an arrest warrant was issued for Harris. During the early morning hours of August 13, an Aberdeen officer spotted him, and officers arrested him on the active warrant, according to police.
Officers then transported Harris to the Harford County Detention Center in Bel Air. The facility, which has an 820-bed total capacity, serves as the central intake point for municipal, sheriff, and state police arrests throughout Harford County, according to the Harford County Sheriff's Office. Under Maryland Criminal Procedure rules, anyone held in custody must appear before a District Court Commissioner within 24 hours of arrest to review the charges and set conditions of pre-trial release. The Aberdeen Police Department has not released details about Harris's next court appearance.
What Maryland Law Says About the Charge
Harris has been charged with indecent exposure. Under Maryland Criminal Law § 11-107, standard indecent exposure is a misdemeanor punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000, according to the Maryland General Assembly. That penalty rises sharply, to as much as five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, if the exposure is committed with prurient intent in the presence of a minor at least two years old and more than four years younger than the offender, a change made through Senate Bill 130 that took effect in October 2024.
Maryland law also explicitly authorizes police to make warrantless arrests for misdemeanor indecent exposure when probable cause exists, according to BillTrack50. That authority explains how officers were able to initially take Harris into custody the same morning without first securing a warrant, before the medical release and the warrant that brought him back into custody the following day. Separately, standard misdemeanor indecent exposure convictions involving adult victims do not carry mandatory placement on Maryland's sex offender registry, per Maronick Law LLC, a distinction tied to a 2009 Maryland court ruling.
Police Ask Public for Help Identifying Other Possible Victims
The Aberdeen Police Department is now urging anyone with information about the August 12 incident, or anyone who may have been a victim or witness to other public exposures in the area, to contact investigators at 410-272-2121, according to WCBM. It is not yet known whether additional victims have come forward since that appeal went out.
The Aberdeen Police Department, headquartered at 60 North Parke Street under Chief Henry Trabert, operates with 45 sworn officers and 17 civilian staff members as the primary municipal law enforcement agency for the city. Aberdeen, with an estimated population of 17,298 residents, is the largest incorporated municipality in Harford County and sits roughly 26 miles northeast of Baltimore along the Interstate 95 corridor. The shopping plaza where the alleged exposure occurred sits along the Beards Hill Road corridor, a major commercial route that sees heavy daily traffic through the city.
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