Background
On July 16, 2022, between 3:40 and 4:20 AM, I did calisthenics workout on the lawn behind a playset of Mazie Gable Elementary School in Red Lion, PA, using the playset for a few of my exercises. Three other individuals arrived at that school’s front parking lot in a car on that day at around 4AM. They played basketball for a while on a basketball court behind the school building, then walked to the side of the building, where they later claimed to have seen me. After several minutes, they called the police, claiming that there is a naked man at the playground. I was subsequently charged with two summary offenses (trespassing and disorderly conduct) and two misdemeanors (open lewdness and indecent exposure).
In late August of 2022, I attended a meet-the-teacher night of the Red Lion High School with two of my daughters. The next day, I was informed that I would be charged with a misdemeanor for this (defiant trespassing), because the Red Lion Area School District claimed to have informed me in writing that I was no longer permitted to be present on any property of that school district.
At the end of a preliminary hearing for both cases held in late September of 2022, the local magistrate judge decided that I have 48 hours to get a GPS-tracking bracelet fixed to my ankle, that I had to stay inside my home at all times until these two cases will have been resolved, and that I was not allowed to be anywhere near any minor. At that point in time, I was the primary caregiver of my three school-age children who lived together with me in my home. Therefore, it was physically impossible for me to comply with both orders at once. When this was pointed out to the judge, he merely responded by saying “That’s not my problem.” I therefore decided to use the 48 hours to move out of my home in order to avoid additional charges by violating the judge’s order to be nowhere near minors. I subsequently lived first in Michigan for some six weeks, then in Texas until July 2024. I then moved to upstate New York.
On Dec. 9, 2024, while driving inside New York State, I was pulled over by the police due to an arrest warrant issued by the York County Court for not having appeared at a plea hearing in late October of 2022. I was subsequently extradited to York County on Dec. 26. On Dec. 31, during a status hearing, bail was set to $5,000. At that point in time, the magistrate judge’s order of September 2022 to wear an ankle tracking device and not to be near any minor had disappeared from the record. After bail had been paid, I was released from prison on Jan. 3, 2005.
Resolution
A new plea hearing took place on February 25, 2025. During that plea hearing, the district attorney handling the two cases divulged the following about the evidence:
1. Working out on a school playground
Neither of the three witnesses were willing to testify. They all confirmed NEVER to have been in a position to have seen whether my genitals were exposed or not, which is necessary for there to have been any open lewdness or indecent exposure. The only time I was facing them that morning, they confirmed that I was wearing pants, hence that nothing was exposed. (I may add that video evidence from a school camera facing the playground equipment, while too poor in resolution to distinguish details, is sufficient to assess the sequence of events. However, it contradicts a written affidavit of one of the witnesses as to what transpired that morning, while fully confirming my claimed line of events.) For this reason, the prosecution dropped the two misdemeanor charges, but upheld the summary offenses. Since I was on school property at a time when it was posted on road signs that this was not permitted (4pm to 7am), and by so doing evidently caused some people to get perplexed enough to call the police, I pled guilty to these two tickets, and was then sentenced to pay a fine for each.
2. Attending meet-the-teacher night
The prosecutor admitted that the school district has been unable to provide any documentary evidence that a letter had been sent to me, and received by me, informing me about being banned from school-district property. Furthermore, the individual at the Red Lion Area School District who in August 2022 is said to have issued and mailed that letter no longer worked for the school district. He was not willing to testify, and evidently was rather hostile toward the district attorney. The prosecution therefore agreed to downgrade this misdemeanor charge to a mere summary offense of simple trespassing, to which I pled guilty.
In total, all misdemeanor charges were either dropped or replaced by summary offenses, with a total of $800 in fines, plus court costs, paid in full today, February 27.
Since summary offenses have no consequences for me as a permanent legal resident in the United States, this resolution of these two cases leaves my immigration status as a legal immigrant untouched.
And now that this nightmare is over, let’s all get back to work!
(PS: In early 2023, I discarded all risky workout clothes, and do my calisthenics workout now in my basement…)
