2 Indecent Exposures Near Atholton High School Lead To Conviction

A judge found a 30-year-old Columbia man guilty in two cases of indecent exposure near Atholton High School, according to the Howard County State's Attorney's Office. In both incidents, students at the school said they saw a man in his car masturbating, officials said.

Andrew James Cleary, 30, was found guilty of two counts of indecent exposure and two counts of disorderly conduct.

The first case happened on March 29, 2018, when members of the Atholton High School girls track team said a man in a vehicle exposed his genitalia and fondled himself in a neighborhood where they were running, around Fair Oaks at Freetown Road, officials said. They told administrators, who summed police to investigate.

The second case happened on April 16, 2018. Some of the same students were at track practice on Quarterstaff Road in Columbia when they saw the same man in the same vehicle masturbating, officials reported.

Assistant State Attorneys’ Dillon Yeung and Lisa Romano, who prosecuted the case, said a witness identified Cleary in a photo array as the suspect in both instances.

Howard County Circuit Court Judge John J. Kuchno found Cleary guilty of two counts of indecent exposure and two counts of disorderly conduct after a two-day bench trial, authorities reported.

Cleary will be sentenced on July 11.