Man with 29 convictions arrested for indecent exposure

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Richard Lamar Brown Jr., 32, was arrested yesterday after allegedly exposing himself behind a downtown business.

At about 2:48 p.m. on February 16, an employee of a downtown business went onto the back patio to take out the trash and saw a man leaning against the wall of the patio; she said the man’s genitals were exposed, and he was masturbating. The business showed surveillance video of the incident to the responding Gainesville Police Department officer.

The officer found Brown walking southbound on SW 2nd Street and reported that when Brown saw the officer, he immediately turned into a parking garage. The officer located him in the parking garage, and Brown allegedly gave his name but insisted that he had forgotten his birth date. The officer eventually used law enforcement databases to identify him.

Post Miranda, Brown reportedly said he was scratching, and his genitals fell out of his pants; he said he was not masturbating at any point.

Brown has been charged with indecent exposure, second or subsequent offense, and resisting an officer without violence. He has 17 felony convictions (one violent) and 12 misdemeanor convictions (non-violent), including two previous convictions for indecent exposure; he has served four state prison sentences, with his most recent release in 2023. He was sentenced to probation and substance abuse treatment in the most recent indecent exposure case, and he was recently released from the Alachua County Jail after serving a 90-day sentence that was imposed after he violated probation by leaving his court-ordered residential treatment program at Meridian.

Judge Jonathan Ramsey set bail at $12,500 on the new charges.

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.