Man Threw Semen at Women in Strip Mall: Orange County DA

A Port Jervis man who police say threw semen on women at the ShopRite Plaza in Middletown on three occasions was arraigned Friday on an array of criminal charges.

The 38-year-old sometimes lobbed the foul-smelling liquid from his car, and at other times he approached his victim on foot, said Orange County District Attorney David Hoovier.

Hoovier wants Christopher Hinds put on the New York State Sex Offender Registry.

“Any offender who repeatedly targets women for this type of disgusting and disturbing criminal activity, particularly one who targets a young teenaged girl, and subjects them to any type of sexual abuse, is someone who must be severely punished and closely monitored,” he said in a prepared statement.

Hinds is in jail on $25,000 bail and is due back in court Aug. 14.

Here’s the full statement from the DA’s office:

Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that on July 24, 2015, Christopher Hinds, 38, of Port Jervis, was arraigned by Orange County Court Judge Nicholas De Rosa on felony charges related to his having thrown liquids containing his own semen on three unsuspecting female customers at the Shoprite Plaza on Dolson Avenue in Middletown on June 16, 2015, July 2, 2015, and July 7, 2015.

Bail was set in the amount of $25,000 cash or $100,000 bond. Hinds is scheduled to return to Court on August 14, 2015.

An Orange County Grand Jury had indicted Hinds on crimes including Criminal Mischief in the Third Degree as a Hate Crime, Aggravated Harassment in the Second Degree, Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree, Public Lewdness, and Endangering the Welfare of a Child. Hinds was also charged with Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree for a pair of metal knuckles that City of Middletown Police Officers recovered from his car.

It is alleged that on three different dates Hinds brought foul smelling liquids, which contained his own semen, to throw on female customers at the Middletown shopping plaza. In some of the instances, Hinds threw the liquids from a car, and at other times he approached his victims on foot. Hinds is charged with Hate Crimes for picking his victims, one of whom is a fourteen-year- old girl, because of their gender. The Criminal Mischief charges pertain to damage done to the victims’ clothing and property from the liquids.

Hinds was arrested by the City of Middletown Police on July 13, 2015. During the investigation City of Middletown Police obtained Hind’s consent to search his car. That search resulted in the seizure of the metal knuckles.

Hinds faces sentences of two and one third to seven years in State Prison on each of the charges of Criminal Mischief in the Third Degree as a Hate Crime and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree. A conviction for the charge of Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree would result in Hinds being included in the New York State Sex Offender Registry, since the victim is less than eighteen years old.

District Attorney Hoovler thanked the City of Middletown Police Department for their investigation and apprehension of the defendant.

“Any case involving a defendant who commits a series of crimes against strangers and who targets his victims based on their gender is a very serious matter,” said District Attorney Hoovler. “Any offender who repeatedly targets women for this type of disgusting and disturbing criminal activity, particularly one who targets a young teenaged girl, and subjects them to any type of sexual abuse, is someone who must be severely punished and closely monitored. My office will do everything in its power to see that in addition to obtaining appropriate sentences, which include incarceration, that such offenders are placed on the New York State Sex Offender Registry. These cases become even more alarming when it is discovered that the offender is on possession of an illegal weapon.”

The prosecution is being handled by Senior Assistant District Attorney Kelle Grimmer.

A criminal charge is merely an allegation that a defendant has committed a violation of the criminal law, and it is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the State of New York’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.