A 59-year-old Tri-State man is facing three felony counts of public indecency after an alleged incident last month inside a West Chester Barnes & Noble, where investigators say he appeared to expose himself near a juvenile boy and three women. Gerald Fornshell was indicted this week on the charges, and court records show this is not the first time he has been accused of this kind of conduct.
According to WKRC, Fornshell appeared to have pleasured himself while near a juvenile boy and three women on Sept. 12 inside the West Chester Barnes & Noble on Civic Centre Boulevard. The outlet reports that video provided by the store, combined with witness statements, led to Fornshell's arrest a few days after the incident. He was indicted Monday on the three felony public indecency charges tied to that encounter.
Held on $50,000 Bond Since September
Fornshell has been held on $50,000 bond since his arrest in September, per the station's report. The charges stem from a single September incident, but the case has drawn fresh attention because of Fornshell's documented history with the same type of allegation.
The station notes that Fornshell has previous public indecency convictions in Warren and Hamilton counties, though the specific details of those earlier cases were not spelled out in its report.
A Pattern Dating Back More Than a Decade
Fornshell's history with public indecency accusations stretches back over ten years. In 2015, he was accused of exposing himself to two teenage girls, ages 16 and 17, at a Big Lots store in Springdale, according to FOX19. Police caught up with him shortly afterward inside a nearby Lowes store, the outlet reported at the time.
That 2015 report described Fornshell as a serial flasher with six prior convictions, and he was held without bond at the Hamilton County jail on a felony public indecency charge following his arrest. It is not clear from available records how that case or his prior Warren County conviction were ultimately resolved.
What Ohio Law Says About the Charge
Under Ohio Revised Code Section 2907.09, anyone who violates the public indecency statute is guilty of the offense and subject to punishment under separate divisions of the code that escalate based on prior convictions and other circumstances. The statute itself does not specify a particular penalty tier applicable to Fornshell's current case, and details such as the specific subsections charged, a court date, or an attorney of record for the West Chester case have not been made public.
