Hunter
11/18/23
An Iowa City man who was arrested for masturbating in public twice last month and once at the end of 2022 has been charged with the same offense a fourth time.
According to the criminal complaint, 25-year-old Deshawn Brown of South Linn Street was at Artifacts on East Market Street Wednesday afternoon. A woman was browsing through the store when she reportedly noticed Brown and felt that he was following her. When the victim’s mother went to use a dressing room, she walked around to the back of the store, only to find Brown leaning against a rack of clothing. She then allegedly noticed immediately that Brown had removed his erect penis from his pants and was masturbating. She then quickly walked past him without paying attention to Brown.
When interviewed about the incident, Brown allegedly admitted to “readjusting” himself, but denied removing his penis from his pants.
Brown was previously charged with indecent exposure when allegedly found at Laundromania on Mormon Trek Boulevard last December 28th sitting on a chair and masturbating. Last month, he reportedly was caught masturbating at Om Gifts for Body and Soul on South Linn Street while following female customers around the store, and committing the same act at Target on East Washington Street. In that incident, Brown claimed not to be masturbating his actual penis, but instead a dildo he had in his shorts.
For Wednesday’s incident, Brown was arrested on a warrant Friday night. Indecent Exposure is a serious misdemeanor punishable by a jail term of up to one year if convicted.