Registered Sex Offender Accused Of More Lewd Behavior In Vernon

VERNON, CT — A registered sex offender living in Vernon already charged with exposing himself at a local bowling alley in August is now facing accusations that he was performing lewd acts at a shopping plaza that same day.

The latest charges against 55-year-old John Tobia were two counts of second-degree breach of peace, filed Friday when he was served a warrant at Rockville Superior Court. He remained in custody to begin this week after his arraignment Friday with another $25,000 tacked onto to his previous bond of $250,000. He is slated to return to court on Nov. 1, according to judicial system records.

According to the Oct. 4 warrant, Vernon police received a call on Aug. 27 from someone sitting in a car at the Tri-City Plaza shopping center about a man who was staring at her while performing a sex act on himself. Someone yelled to the man to, "Stop ------- to young women in public," according to the Oct. 4 warrant. The woman in the car then took a photo of the man, according to a warrant

They were near the Staples store and the man ran off because of the ruckus, according to the Oct. 4 warrant.

Police who investigated the initial Aug. 27 incident at the Spare Time bowling and entertainment center recognized Tobia from the photo, and he had on the exact same outfit (maroon shirt, navy blue sweats and black sneakers), according to the Oct. 4 warrant.

According to the Oct. 4 warrant, Tobia was at Staples at about the time (20 to 30 minutes) it would have taken him to walk there from Spare Time along Talcottville Road.

One witness to the Staples incident told police Tobia had his pants down at one point.

For the Spare Time incident, Tobia has been charged with charged with risk of injury to a minor and public indecency, a warrant shows.

According to the Connecticut Sex Offender Registry, Tobia was convicted of illegal sexual contact with someone younger than 16 and risk of injury to a minor in 2006. He has used aliases that include John Doe, and George Taylor, according to the registry. His listed address on the registry is on Peterson Road, which is in close proximity to Vernon Center Middle School, Center Road School and the police department.

In the Oct. 4 warrant, police said he was arrested in Massachusetts on several charges from 1994 to 2009 that include "indecent assault and battery on a child younger than 14, open and gross behavior, public indecency and open and gross lewdness and lascivious behavior.