A man who exposed himself to a 5-year-old girl at a Mulberry Walmart was taken into custody on Thursday, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office reports.
On Monday, about 6 p.m., a Walmart employee on Church Avenue North observed a man exposing himself to a child in the cold food section.
On Thursday, PCSO reported that they received an anonymous Crime Stoppers tip stating that “the suspect is David Hicks, who did the same thing in Toccoa, Georgia”.
After reviewing Hicks’ photo, police found that he matched the suspect shown in the Walmart surveillance video.
Around 1 p.m., the Polk County Sheriff’s Office reported that detectives responded to Hicks’ Lakeland home and arrested him. He faces one case of indecent exposure, one count of lewd exhibition, and one count of exposing sexual organs.
According to the sheriff’s office, he has a long history of such behaviour:
1991 – arrested in Anderson, SC, for indecent exposure; fined
1992 – arrested in Toccoa, GA, for indecent exposure; no disposition
1996 – arrested in Escambia County, FL, for indecent exposure; sentenced to 3 months in jail
1998 – arrested in Toccoa, GA, for indecent exposure; nolle prosse
1998 – arrested twice in Toccoa, GA, for child molestation; one charge was nolle prosse, and one charge resulted in adjudication withheld, 5 years probation.
After additional enquiry, investigators discovered that Hicks is the younger brother of Thomas Hicks, the guy known for impersonating Santa for large Christmas events in Polk County who was arrested in April during an undercover sting to catch child paederasts.
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