Lang
2/9/22
Iowa City Police have arrested an alleged park masturbator who skipped a court hearing.
63-year-old Michelle Touchette was arrested just after 2pm Monday at the Boyrum Street Burger King. Touchette, a local transient, was allegedly disrupting customers and refused to leave. He was charged with Public Intoxication and Trespassing.
Touchette was wanted for skipping a January 31st case management conference on an Indecent Exposure charge. He was arrested last September after a woman walking her dog at Benton Hill Park reported seeing Touchette lying naked on his back on an elevated park structure.
The woman claimed that Touchette was fondling his genitals and touching his anus. When she confronted Touchette, he reportedly covered himself but didn’t offer any explanation. When an officer arrived on the scene, Touchette was wearing only shorts and claimed to have been sunbathing.
If convicted on the Indecent Exposure charge, Touchette faces a maximum of one year in jail. On Tuesday, Judge Jason Burns set a new case management conference for Valentine’s Day.