A man who was caught publicly masturbating on Osoyoos beaches is serving three years probation and attending treatment after his sentence was suspended in Penticton court.
Arthur Brian Jones, 58, pleaded guilty on Sept. 21, 2015 to one count of committing an indecent act in a public place.
On Aug. 13, 2015 a woman called police after she saw a man naked and masturbating at the beach at Haynes Point in Osoyoos. She was concerned because there was children in the water and saw him sitting in a chair with a towel over himself masturbating.
Police received another report from a woman later that day that a male at Cottonwood Park was naked and masturbating while looking at her. She used her phone to take photos and the man left in his vehicle. The woman was able to obtain a license plate number which she gave to police.
Police located the described vehicle, and witnesses had seen a man matching the description walking away from the vehicle. Jones’ vehicle was towed due to the fact there was no overnight parking in the area. On Aug. 13, 2015, Jones attended the Osoyoos RCMP detachment looking for information on how to get his vehicle back. He was then arrested and Crown counsel Catherine Crockett said Jones was “very co-operative, didn’t want to contest anything. He said ‘I did this awhile ago, I haven’t done this for a long time.’ He was very upset,” Crockett told the court.
Jones has several prior convictions in what Crockett called “quite a history of this type of behaviour,” with five prior convictions.
“However, it’s a very dated history with the first incident in 1986 and the last incident in 1998,” Crockett said.
Psychological reports indicated Jones may have a disorder involving exhibitionism, and court heard that he is less of a risk to reoffend when receiving treatment. Both Crown and defence counsel Kate Lundman agreed that rehabilitation was the priority in a joint submission on sentencing.
Jones will be placed on the national sex offender registry for life and is forbidden from being within 50 metres of any public beach or park.