A 31-year-old St. Louis man is being held without bond after police say he exposed himself to two women outside the Central Library in Downtown West last Thursday, then allegedly kept touching himself even after officers arrived. Slynario T. Jones now faces a first-degree sexual misconduct charge stemming from the Sept. 17 incident in the 1300 block of Olive Street.
According to a probable-cause statement described by FOX 2, two women had left the library and gone to their car when one woman saw Jones standing nearby with his penis exposed as he performed a sex act on himself; the other woman turned, saw him, and called police, the station reports.
Officers arrested Jones, and the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office charged him with first-degree sexual misconduct, per the same account. Jones initially denied the women's allegations, but police said he resumed touching himself while he was already in custody.
Federal Supervision Status Adds Wrinkle to Case
At the time of the alleged library incident, Jones was on federal supervised release stemming from a prior unlawful firearm possession case, according to the FOX 2 report. He remains jailed without bond as the new case moves through the St. Louis court system.
Jones has scheduled court appearances set for Sept. 29 and Oct. 20, the station notes.
Similar Case Surfaced in Florida
Library-adjacent exposure allegations aren't unique to St. Louis. In Miami Springs, Florida, police arrested 58-year-old David Betancourt on an indecent-exposure charge after officers said he exposed himself inside a public library, according to NBC Miami. In that case, a female victim reportedly saw Betancourt manipulating his genitals after he pulled up his shorts leg while facing her, and library staffers called police, who took him into custody in the parking lot.
The Missouri statute covering first-degree sexual misconduct classifies it as a Class B misdemeanor, or a Class A misdemeanor if the person has a prior qualifying conviction, according to excerpts from the Revisor of Missouri.
