MURRIETA, CA — A registered sex offender was arrested earlier this month for allegedly engaging in a lewd act on an RTA bus in front of a female passenger, police announced on Thursday.
On July 8, a female passenger reported to Murrieta police that a man sat directly across from her on the bus, exposed himself and began masturbating, according to the Murrieta Police Department.
During the incident, the female passenger said the man also told her he had recently been released from jail on a separate trespassing case, police said.
The woman walked away from the man toward the front of the bus, but the man followed her while making sexual comments before he exited, police said.
The woman took a photo of the suspect and gave it to officers who responded to the incident.
Officers later responded to the Cois Byrd Detention Center where a correctional deputy identified the suspect as Ted Hendricks, a registered sex offender with previous charges of lewd acts in public, according to the Murrieta Police Department.
With assistance from deputies at the Lake Elsinore sheriff's station, Hendricks was found wearing the same clothes in the photograph provided by the female passenger.
Hendricks was detained and later arrested on suspicion of indecent exposure, according to the Murrieta Police Department.
During their investigation, Murrieta police obtained surveillance video from the RTA bus which showed Hendricks masturbating while he sat directly across from the female passenger for about four minutes, according to the Murrieta Police Department.
Police said because Hendricks is a registered sex offender with a previous conviction for the same offense, the alleged incident on July 8 was filed as a felony offense.
Hendricks accepted a plea agreement for 16 months in prison, according to Murrieta Police Department.
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