An 82-year-old man facing trial on charges that he exposed himself to children outside a Sewickley ice cream shop was previously sentenced to probation on indecent exposure charges in two separate incidents, court records show.
Allegheny County Police last month charged David Whitten of Franklin Park with corruption of minors, a felony, and three misdemeanors — two counts of indecent exposure and one count of open lewdness.
Police said Whitten was sitting outside Scoops In Sewickley, an ice cream shop on Beaver Street, about 4:15 p.m. on Sept. 11 when he touched and exposed himself in front of two children under 16, according to a criminal complaint in the case.
A female customer who was babysitting the children told Whitten to stop and said she would call 911, the complaint said. He got up and walked away.
Sewickley police got an anonymous tip that the suspect was Whitten, then worked with police in Ohio Township and Cranberry — the two other places where he had been arrested — to identify him.
Attorney Owen Seman, who represents Whitten, declined comment.
The owner of Scoops in Sewickley didn’t return a phone call to the store seeking comment.
Court records show that Whitten waived his preliminary hearing on Oct. 8.
This was not the first time someone reported Whitten to police for a lewd act in public.
Whitten was arrested for following customers and touching himself on June 28, 2017, inside a Costco store in Cranberry, according to a criminal complaint in that case.
Cranberry police said Whitten told them he exposes himself for sexual gratification.
Whitten later pleaded guilty to open lewdness and harassment in that case, court records show. A judge sentenced him to 12 months of probation.
Whitten also was charged in connection with a separate lewd act that took place in Ohio Township nine days before the Cranberry incident, court records show.
According to a criminal complaint there, Whitten exposed himself in front of at least one child on July 19, 2017, at a Sam’s Club warehouse store on Ohio Township’s Mt. Nebo Pointe Drive.
Whitten fled, the complaint said. Police later found him in a nearby wooded area.
He pleaded guilty in the Ohio Township case to indecent exposure, attempted indecent exposure and open lewdness, court records show. A judge sentenced him to one year of probation and ordered him to get a mental health evaluation.
Attorney Justin Ketchel, who represented Whitten in the Cranberry and Ohio Township cases, said he didn’t know about the Sewickley incident and declined further comment.
Whitten was taken to the Allegheny County Jail in the Sewickley case on Sept. 13, court records show. He posted a $5,000 bond on Oct. 8 and was released.
He is scheduled to appear Dec. 5 for formal arraignment in Allegheny County Common Pleas court on the Sewickley case.