A man who exposed himself on hiking trails near Dosolsan Mountain and around a girls' high school in Daejeon's Seo District has been arrested about five months after the first report to police.
Daejeon Seobu Police Station said on the 23rd that it had arrested a 56-year-old man, identified only by his surname A, on charges of public indecency and was questioning him.
The man is accused of appearing on Dosolsan hiking trails and entering a nearby girls' high school in mid-September with his face covered by a hood, a mask and a hat. Police said he exposed parts of his body and waved at high school girls and female hikers before fleeing the scene.
Police said he had evaded investigators by appearing mainly in areas without closed-circuit television cameras, committing the acts in an instant and running away, and by changing clothes on the mountain without showing his face.
Police opened an investigation immediately after receiving an emergency call about the flasher on April 26, but were unable to identify a suspect for a considerable period afterward.
Police then formed a separate special investigation team for public indecency and mobilized about 100 officers. They combed through 98 CCTV cameras in the area, including those at 63 entry and exit points around Dosolsan, while carrying out drone patrols and stakeouts. The effort led to his arrest near his home in Daejeon's Dong District at about 2:30 p.m. on the 23rd.
Noting that the offenses targeted minors, including high school girls, police decided to apply charges of violating the Child Welfare Act in addition to public indecency. They plan to seek an arrest warrant for him on those charges.
