Registered sexual predator arrested for indecent exposure in front of children at bus stop

Staff report

Updated on November 6 with bail information.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Christopher Jermaine Bolton, 42, was arrested yesterday for allegedly exposing himself in front of two children, an infant, and two adults at a bus stop.

At about 4 p.m. on October 29, Bolton’s birthday, a Gainesville Police Department officer responded to a bus stop at NE 8th Avenue and NE 17th Street, where a woman and her children saw a man vomiting and stopped to see if he needed help. One of the children told the officer that the man pulled his “thing” out, and she clarified to the officer that she meant his genitals and also confirmed that she saw his genitals. One of the children said he did not see the man’s genitals, and the third child is an infant.

The children’s mother told the officer that she stopped and asked the man if he was okay, but he said, “No, I just want to f***” and exposed himself.

Another adult was across the street and told the officer that she was already in the process of calling 911 to get help for the man because he was vomiting when she saw him expose himself. She said she could see his genitals from across the street.

Post Miranda, the man, identified as Bolton, reportedly said that when the woman stopped to talk to him, she said he did something to her children. When the officer asked what he meant by that, he said he did not know. When asked whether he had exposed himself at any time, he said he did not; when asked why two adults and a child would say he did, he still reportedly denied exposing himself.

Bolton, a registered sexual predator whose address is listed as GRACE Marketplace, has been charged with three counts of attempted lewd and lascivious exhibition and two counts of indecent exposure. He has two felony convictions (both sexual) and has served two state prison sentences, including a sentence of almost 15 years for lewd and lascivious molestation and attempted sexual battery of a victim under 12; he was most recently released from prison in 2022. He was arrested in August 2025 for failing to report an email address, and he entered into a deferred prosecution agreement that would have dismissed the charge if he complied with the terms (including refraining from violating any laws) of the agreement for six months.

Judge Meshon Rawls ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s office to hold him without bail until trial. On November 6, Judge Denise Ferrero ordered him held without bail on one count of lewd and lascivious exhibition and set bail at $230,000 on the other four 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.