Gainesville man arrested for indecent exposure

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Herbert Eugene Williams III, 28, was arrested yesterday and charged with indecent exposure after allegedly masturbating in a public area.

A Gainesville Police Department officer responded at 10 p.m. on Wednesday night to a report of a man masturbating in a public area at an undisclosed location. The caller said she was in the study area and saw a man masturbating; she said she left the area and the man fled.

Post Miranda, Williams reportedly said he was not masturbating and his sexual organs were not exposed, but after a detective showed him surveillance video of the incident, Williams reportedly identified himself in the video. He then reportedly recanted his previous statement and said he was masturbating in the bathroom but was sure nobody could see; he later said someone might have seen him.

The officer reported that the video showed Williams walking in the hallway while masturbating.

Williams has a juvenile criminal history, three felony convictions (two violent), and one violent misdemeanor conviction. He was arrested in 2020 for battery on an occupational therapist at Shands Vista and ended up serving 16 months in state prison after violating his probation. He was released in March 2022 and was arrested in May 2022 for urinating on another patient while he was a patient at the Behavioral Health Unit at North Florida Regional Hospital. He spent 71 days in jail before pleading nolo contendere to simple battery with a sentence of time served and a fine. Bail information is unavailable for the current charges, but he is still in jail as of this writing.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.